For Christ and Kropotkin

Bob Lincoln is Director of Acquisitions at the University of Manitoba
Libraries.

In this slim volume of poetry Brian Burch attempts to link the invective of social protest with the conventions of modern poetry. The poetry comes out second-rate. These are political poems, but without a great sense of passion. There is anger against armaments, California grape-growers, and cruise missiles; and sympathy for the Vancouver 5 and Wobblies; but the cumulative effect of the book dampens the spirit; each sentiment is a bit too predictable, the images are tired and worn.

Brian Burch is not without a sense of humour, and the poem about the construction of a harbourfront stadium as a shelter for the homeless is good. This poem has restraint and pacing, and the idea behind the poem works in the language. The language of the other poems does not meet our expectations. In a public reading these poems might appear stronger, but on the printed page they are weak.

For Christ and Kropotkin gives a sense of the poet as an aging but still largely committed political activist who has retained his sense of justice. The poems are not so interesting as perhaps the author is, or the issues. These 20 poems suggest that art is at its highest form when coupled to political ends. The poems themselves do not demonstrate this, although the message is clearly stated.