Acts of Light

David E. Kemp is head of the Drama Department at Queen’s University.

Frutkin is an Ottawa writer, editor, and journalist whose novel
Atmospheres Apollinaire was short-listed for both the Governor
General’s and Trillium awards. Acts of Light, Frutkin’s third volume
of poetry, displays the great skill at opening our eyes to the
commonplace that characterized his previous collections. Though much of
his work is redolent with classical and literary allusions, he manages
to make direct contact with his audience through the strength of his
vision and the directness of his language.

In this collection, Section 1 (“The Watering Hole”) explores
through the eyes of 19th-century French poet Jean Rimbaud themes of
creation, re-creation, and the search for meaning. Section 2 (“African
Cloth”) seems to draw on the poet’s personal experience of the dark
continent, with the longer poem “Ode to Africa” especially
praiseworthy.

Section 3 (“Spontaneous Combustion”) is taken up with fire and
light-related ritual, while the final section of the collection (“Acts
of Light”) is both the most complex and the most significant. Here
Frutkin uses Dante’s Divine Comedy as a metaphor through which to
explore the absence of meaning in modern human experience. The section
is rich with classical references, and the author has thoughtfully
provided notes to clarify the more obscure allusions.

This exhilaratingly intellectual collection amply rewards those willing
to struggle with its complex references, and provides a fascinating
glimpse into a world both ancient and of our time.