The Coastline of Forgetting

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

A sense of seascape is present in every Nova Scotian’s blood. The
sentimental journey Lesley Choyce takes in these poems is illustrated by
a black-and-white map. The poet’s itinerary provides him with ample
opportunity to reflect on “who I am and where I’ve been.” In these
diarylike reminiscences, the sea is never far away, supportive of its
own marine life but also insidious, relentlessly at work in “patient
mutilation.” Judy Brannen’s black-and-white illustrations
effectively capture the sense of solitariness that pervades these
closely observed poems; her cover illustration admirably portrays that
“perfect map of change” that is Choyce’s theme-song.