Love in Alaska

Bert Almon is a professor of English at the University of Alberta and
the author of Calling Texas and Earth Prime.

O’Neill’s subject is the wilderness. He writes about the Canadian
and American wilderness, mostly in northern areas, though he does have
an interesting section on the American Southwest. There are good poems
here, especially on bears, the species that seems to engage his
imagination most profoundly. But he needs more resources of style.
O’Neill relies too much on description in short lines that build no
rhythmic momentum. His prose-poems are more flexible and energetic than
most of the poems that are laid out in lines. Too often, he falls into
flat description; the occasional mythical touches are effective
extensions of the plainness of so much of his writing. The best poem in
the book is the title work, which is longer than most and shows more
imagination, transforming description into a sensuous experience. Too
often he relies on description alone, though the representation is
accurate throughout.