At the Mercy Seat

Lynn R. Szabo is an associate professor and chair of the English
Department at Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C.

Taking her cue from such poet–mystics as Mawlana Rumi, William Blake,
and Thomas Merton, Susan McCaslin paints the fecund silences that erupt
with epiphanies in spaces and places ranging from British Columbia’s
Cariboo region to the Emmaus Road of the resurrected Christ; from the
quiet seasons of 20 years of married love to the forgiving necessities
of familial householding. She advises us with intelligent good humour to
anticipate these disordering contemplative realizations: “Get used to
them / as God does when She tends / to fry and fish, flipping from sea
to shore / then settling in the interstices.”

Intimacy radiates from the poetic core of McCaslin’s perceptions.
With a doctoral dissertation on Blake in her writer’s inkwell, her eye
and ear render the panoramic vision of her contemplative journeys.
Strolling through a suburban mall becomes for her speaker a mystic’s
journey into a “Blakescape”: “I walk into the clanging streets /
and see Blake’s tygers raging there, / but no one else can spy them
till / I comb them from my hair.” Her cautionary voice teases and
pleasures the listener with its delicate music and finely counterpointed
harmonies. With meticulous and courageous strokes, the poetry brings
light to life’s darkness, and even to death itself. Amid a choir of
antiphons mirroring silence and sound, “the mercy seat” invites all
who would come to its healing altar.

The most alluring delights of this volume shine from the largesse of
McCaslin’s vigour and sensibilities, skilfully articulated in her
poet’s lexicon. This collection, as generous as its title, guides us
to that place where “relentless mercies” are on offer, overwhelming
all creation with their care and their creators.