Rapture of the Deep

Sheila Martindale is poetry editor of Canadian Author and Bookman and
author of No Greater Love.

Anne Szumigalski’s new book is described as a collection of prose
poems, but it is more accurately a collection of poetic prose pieces. A
fine distinction. The author uses layers of surreal imagery and
juxtaposes opposites in tangibles and emotions. The effect is variously
startling, humorous, and incomprehensible. Szumigalski ascribes thoughts
to daffodil bulbs in a delightful piece titled “The Elect,” and
shows how a boy comes to grips with his mother’s death in the
beautifully written “The Dove.”

“The Fishes” is wonderfully whimsical, and the title piece is a
thought-provoking study of undersea archaeology. There are unusual and
sometimes disturbing religious references, and much of this writing has
a quality of reverence. Rapture of the Deep is not a quick read—the
work needs to be savored and meditated on and reread for all the
multiples of meaning and imagery to be appreciated.