Heavy Seasoning & Heavenly Bodies

Martin Singleton was a poet living in Toronto.

This chapbook is Figurski’s third book, and is a very hit-and-miss proposition. Neither diction nor content of the first few poems is interesting enough to stay with the reader; not until “Images from Huron & the Bruce” does Figurski display a fine lyric gift: “paper moon hovering at the lake’s edge / an orange smudge behind cloud wisps / tiger’s eye blinking at the liquid horizon.” Unfortunately, Figurski’s lyricism sometimes degenerates into throwaway poems like “London” or “Moon,” where euphony is achieved at the expense of both craft and thought-development.

Nowhere is this hollowness so salient as in the love poems, of which “After the Swim” is typical: “What came so suddenly together / in our nameless / embrace.” However, the poet redeems himself with “In Flagrante Delecto” with its joyful plethora of images. In fact, the second half of the book is much stronger. “The Accident” uses imagery that, while not startling, is apt in describing the narrator’s child: “so teeth swung like doors / and blood went the way of drunks / after closing time.” Although some poems remain slight, the book ends well with two strong ones: “July 17 1981: Anima Rising” works because of its mad refrain of witch-song, while “For Irene in Memoriam” achieves its epiphany in a quieter mode. The cover of this chapbook is elegantly designed and indeed one poem, “Self Relations,” is printed in varying typeface. Unfortunately, all that glitters is not gold.