Rice to the Occasion

Alan Robinson is National Sales Manager of Paper E. Clips Inc. in
Toronto.

Rice is a Hamilton-born poet who dabbles in many different styles. This
slim volume of poetry varies widely in both form and content. It
contains examples of sonnets, broken verse, rhyming metre, and a unique
form of haiku that seems to depend on the pun for its message: “It’s
true / Rejected bugs commit / Insecticide.”

The best writing appears early in the book. Both “Homeward” (a
light nostalgic piece about boys escaping school’s clutches to leap in
puddles) and “I Remember” (a homage to the memory of youthful love)
are well-crafted and thought-provoking pieces.

Rice has an unfortunate tendency to overexplain his work. He leads the
reader, as though unsure either of the clarity of what he is saying or,
perhaps, of the reader’s intelligence. Many otherwise-fine efforts are
diminished, even ruined, by this overworking of theme.

This book contains enough evidence of a keen eye and a deft touch to
warrant looking forward to subsequent efforts, perhaps more judiciously
edited.