Touching Time

Elizabeth St Jacques is the author of Dance of Light and Around the Tree
of Light.

Their titles suggest a gentle read, but Touching Time and A Taste of
Rain are anything but. The poems in the former collection concern “the
present, with its problems and paradoxes shaped by the past,” while
those in the latter deal with “endangered species, both plants and
animals.” Accompanying the sense of urgency that runs through both
collections is a great deal of violence.

Rape, murder, physical abuse, and accidents are among the occurrences
that pervade the 75 poems in Touching Time. Things and people are torn,
ripped, mobbed, bloodied. Even birds are fierce; the magpie “cracks
bluish eggs / sucks in the yolk / leaves the empty shells / ... pecks
furiously at life / trail of skin / flesh / marks the way to the nest”
(“rock wren”). Although A Taste of Rain is a somewhat easier read,
violence, in one form or another, visits most of its 62 poems. A certain
insensitivity is conveyed in these poems. Many of those dealing with
horrific subject matter come across as cold reports.” Moreover, the
density of the images and the rapid-fire pace overwhelm—it’s like
being on a roller coaster that’s out of control.