The Seed Jar

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island.

In this slim poetry collection, Margaret Blackwood reminisces and
reflects on her childhood years. The poems are intimate, presented
almost as if told to a close confidante—snatches of conversation,
personal and inconsequential. Her use of the short line contributes to
this effect. Her mood is variously plangent, whimsical, quizzical. She
is mistress of that delicate art of conveying comment by nuance, as in
the posed but unanswered question. Her imagery is sparse and peculiarly
neutral in color, rather like a William Morris poem: “lichen-spotted
moon” is a typical example. Some of the poems here have been
previously published.