Between the Walls

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

Paul Vermeersch has published three other poetry books, but many know
him as the editor of The I.V. Lounge Reader. Those who have read that
anthology can see the master of ceremonies turn performer here.

As a poet, Vermeersch has a gift for startling his readers. In one of
the book’s most powerful passages, we learn that “[a] husband and
father is humbled / before the courts because / his dog did not perish
in that hot car. / It was his daughter instead.” He also considers the
routine strivings of ordinary workers, concluding in one of his poems
that “in the blue above Metropolis / there is no bird, or plane, or
anyone”—a reference to an absent, or non-existent, Superman. In
Vermeersch’s grim world, even fictional commuters must face reality.

The poet treats poverty in a similar manner. In “As It Is with
Charity,” he introduces the theory that the destitute have magically
vanished, but sarcastically deflates it by stating that they may now be
in “Atlantis or Brigadoon, or the Union Street YMCA.” Since the poor
are always with us, so are the prods to the social conscience.

Vermeersch may be a keen observer, but his metaphors can be puzzling.
His idea of inner-city conflict is “Urban Violence with
Starlings”—a dispute between youths ends with an exploding bird. Is
it an actual creature or a metaphor for a gun? Hardcore downtown boys
know firearms, not wildlife. In this scenario, the artist sabotages the
social commentator.

At its best, Between the Walls offers engaging observations and
memorable judgments.