The Ishtar Gate: Last and Selected Poems

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

Diana Brebner was a formalist who explored eternal themes—“life and
death, gods and goddesses, art and nature”—using “traditional
verse forms.” This stance earned her many national literary awards in
the 1990s. Such recognition meant that those who have never read her
books may have heard her name.

McGill-Queen’s University Press has honoured her with a five-part
work. Selections from three of her collections and her assembled last
unpublished poems, titled “The Ishtar Gate (Last Poems)” are
featured. These are bracketed by academic poet Stephanie Bolster’s
introduction and Brebner’s own essay.

Brebner’s boldness sometimes pays off. In Section II of “The
Radiant Lady Poems,” our planet is “the / earth, so mere and
still.” “Mere” is an adjective that is applied to a noun, as in
“a mere lad.” Here this word effectively stands alone.

“The Pictures of My Heart” refers to “pointillist mug / shots”
This juxtaposition of fine arts and police procedure may evoke absurd
images, but can be taken seriously.

The poet presents an unsentimental account of childhood abuse. She does
not name her abuser, put provides telling clues. “He will come. To
tuck you and / fuck you” suggests a paternal figure in a manner that
dissects her trauma. Reality bites, but poetry illuminates.

Brebner’s essay “The Trout in the Holy Well: Ideas on Order &
Poetry” showcases her attention to, and love of, poetry. Her use of
technical terms, such as “mimesis,” that may alienate those who
merely appreciate poetry. Yet her citation of poet Joseph Brodsky’s
discovery “of Auden’s poetry while serving time in one of the Soviet
Union’s northern prison towns” connects readers to art.

If work is the author’s monument, then she has found her pedestal.