Post-Sixties Nocturne

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

Almost ten years ago Di Cicco published three poems in Al Purdy’s collection of new poets, Storm Warning 2. This appearance was only an indication of better things to come. Post-Sixties Nocturne is an impressive selection of 37 poems that have appeared in a wide range of journals and little magazines. These poems show Di Cicco at his best; he wastes no time in getting to the heart. The poems arrest the eyes and mind with lyrical and violent conversations and insightful remarks on the society and people that he lives with. No one is exempt; the hard lines are lovely and precise. Listen to the opening of the poem “The Man Who Sleeps”: “How dark the snow. Huge elbows of it, careening / into the lake.”

Ironically, these poems suggest incompleteness and unconsummated desires, and they appear to be spoken in disbelief. And yet the conclusions are might, and the messages come home. There are the puzzles of those who seem to have forgotten themselves or who avoid yesterday’s commitments. While the tone may seem to be one of disenchantment, the effect of the book is gratifying. We need to remember ourselves and the lives that we have made, and Di Cicco’s words make it all that much easier.