Grief Notes and Animal Dreams

Sheila Martindale is poetry editor of Canadian Author and Bookman and
the author of No Greater Love.

There are a variety of topics in this poetry collection, but the
underlying theme is that of the poet’s mother dying in a house fire.
“Its aftermath sits in me like a drought,” she writes. The
unfortunate part is that her mother was safely outside, but went back
inside to search for a hose. Throughout the book, we find so many things
that remind Munro of her mother—apple blossoms, kittens, sewing
equipment. We feel her sadness and frustration, but these are not
self-indulgent poems. One of the strongest poems, “Maxie’s Wake,”
is about the death of her aunt.

Other poems are about love and lost love, about clothes and food and
jazz. The language is often whimsical, the ideas sometimes hard to
follow down the many avenues where we are led. But the journey is
intriguing, and the multiple layers of meaning are fascinating. These
are poems to read and savor, and read again.