Only the Salt

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and honorary chief of the Mi’kmaq of Prince
Edward Island.

This collection of poems is divided into three sections. The haunting,
dreamlike prose poems that make up the first section are reflections on
various aspects of nature. The poems in the two other sections are
devoted to reflections on aspects of everyday life. The poet adopts a
simple verse structure in these latter poems, which clearly belong in
the imagist tradition. Underhill demonstrates a strong command of phrase
and a gift for strong transitive verbs, as when a squirrel’s “furry
leap / explodes blue jays.” Significance is extracted from even the
most humdrum of daily events, and the poet’s mood is variously
quizzical, tender, cynical, compassionate. The collection is marred by
several typographical errors, and John Milton is misquoted in Fred
Cogswell’s introduction.