The Glass Air: Selected Poems

Mary Jane Starr was with the National Library of Canada in Ottawa.

This collection contains more than a hundred poems, two essays and nine drawings (done under the name of P.K. Irwin). The poems come from five out-of-print books and include some of Page’s best known work — “The Stenographers,” “Cry Ararat,” and “Evening Dance of the Grey Flies.” The poetry is grouped chronologically into the periods 1944-1954, 1955-1967, and 1968-1985.

P.K. Page’s quest for meaning and understanding is well-documented in this collection. In the essay “Traveller, Conjuror, Journeyman,” she explains the nature of the voyage: “I am a traveller. I have a destination but no maps.” Ironically, through sharing her observations and experiences, she charts a course for others. The chronological arrangement gives evidence of the progression in Page’s poetry; a mellowing takes place, not in the quality on accuracy of perception and depiction, but rather in the definitiveness of the responses to the questions posed by life and death. In “Phone call from Mexico,” she writes, “you are all/those whom I love/who age ungainly/whose/joints hearts psyches/minds unhinge/and whom/I cannot mend or ease.”

The strongly imagistic drawings, reproduced in black and white, complement the poetry. Miss Page explores the relationship between writing and painting in the essays. Taken together, the poems, essays, and drawings form an enviable record of a remarkable talent.