Some Impossible Heaven of the Senses

Roger Nash is a professor of philosophy at Laurentian University and the
author of Night Flying.

These previously unpublished poems by the late Tom Marshall were
assembled by David Helwig, who provides an introduction. Though Helwig
judges all the poems worthy, a posthumous publication invariably raises
questions about whether the author would have wished to see the work in
print.

Several poems meditate on the nature of poetry. Marshall speaks of the
problem of remembering or reinventing one’s past self. And he reflects
on the role poetry plays in the life of a poet. One turns darkness in
one’s life into art, which brings light. Paradoxically, one may then
want to kick the poetry away, like a ladder that has served its purpose.
The light itself cannot, for Marshall, be told in a poem.

The collection ends with a long poem to a lost male lover. There is
great confessional courage in the quiet self-criticism of the voice. At
times, there is poetry in the courage. However, there are also poetic
difficulties. Though alluded to, passion and sensuality are never
created in the poem, leaving one to wonder how the loss of the lover
mattered. Despite this and other weaknesses in the poetry (weaknesses
that Marshall presumably would have eradicated), this volume will be
deeply valued by admirers of a writer described by K.J. Charles as
belonging to “the small circle of major Canadian poets.”