Adultery with its pleasure, pain and outrage No one writes the poetry of adultery as does Nancy Holmes. For her guide, she takes the poet Ovid who schools her in his tender cynicism and teaches her the art of love. The poems themselves participate in the affair, forming the third party in the inevitable triangle, as they remind the poet that her life and follies are the fuel for art. No matter how ridiculously one behaves or how poorly one chooses, Holmes affirms, the adventure of lust and love is one of the deepest pleasures of our adult life.
Poetry. How do we learn to be where we live? How can a 21st-century mind, saturated with the culture and metaphors of contemporary life, connect to the natural world that surrounds us? In Nancy Holmes's new book of poetry, these questions are asked of her home, the Okanagan valley in the southern interior of British Columbia. In these poems, as Holmes comes to terms with personal grief, she tries to find consolation in the place she shares with other beings. Holmes's poetry looks for relationships with the prickly pear cacti, bluebunch wheatgrass, the black bears, the coyotes, and the northern flickers. She seeks to embed herself in the geography and consciousness of this arid Western landscape, one of the most endangered ecosystems in Canada, a landscape of great beauty and spiritual power with its volcanic glaciated mountains and fragile long lakes. The result is poetry that is both elegiac and humorous, with a vision often skewed by the lenses of mass media, anxiety, and the obsessions of the contemporary world. Sometimes disturbed and questioning, sometimes delighted and awed, sometimes troubled by the history of settlers and indigenous peoples, the poems explore our complicity in the destruction of, and our love for, the wild animals, plants, and places around us.
Exploring themes of wonder, guilt, and grief, this collection delves into the complexities of human existence and our relationship with nature. Through elegies and litanies, it confronts profound issues such as mortality and environmental destruction, questioning the possibility of solace amid turmoil. The title sequence cleverly intertwines human experiences with trees, highlighting our fragile perceptions. Additionally, the work engages with spiritual reflections and the mundane, making it a poignant companion for those seeking hope in challenging times.
