At First Light

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

“Poetry,” Cecil Day Lewis once said, “is meant to be enjoyed”;
this book is a good example. Like many poets before him, McGrath goes
back to his grassroots in Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula for subject
matter. In a series of interrelated thumbnail sketches, he portrays his
youthful environment: the primitive “make-do” of sanitation in the
home; the Roman Catholic village school, its teachers, daily curriculum
(including “the faith”), and playground lore; and the onset of
puberty—reminders of a way of life a generation ago. Then there is
McGrath’s style as a raconteur—a relaxed, laid-back manner of
delivery, using simple, everyday language, well laced with irrepressible
“Newfie” drollery: “The faithful / were busy sleeping off the
effects / of Communion wine and roast chicken.” The “familiar matter
of today” is all grist for McGrath’s mill, often revealed through
deadpan humor and short images. A most enjoyable collection.