Intricate Countries

Beryl Baigent is a poet; her published collections include Absorbing the
Dark, Hiraeth: In Search of Celtic Origins, Triptych: Virgins, Victims,
Votives, and Mystic Animals.

Intricate Countries, which features the work of seven women poets, began
as an anthology of Ontario feminist writing. The book is divided into
three sections: The River, The Overarching Sky, and The Earth Our Muse.

Lesley Douglass writes of her African heritage, of gay pride, and of
family relationships, and reveals her theatre background in the rap
sounds of “I was born a / Sistuh / Resister.” Ellen Jaffe, whose
involvement with children in therapy is reflected in her revisiting of
fairy tales, draws upon nightmares in which babies “drown in the
bathwater / choke on crusts of bread.”

Sheila Delany’s mood is self-reflective. Her “small poems” are
“inlaid” in the scissors she uses to cut herself off from a painful
relationship. Barb Janes contributes some outstanding poems about family
events circa 1910. Sudharshana Coomarasamy’s evocations of alienation,
violence, liberation struggles, and racism are balanced by a deeply
spiritual, feminist rewriting of the Lord’s Prayer.

M.B. Stacey writes about personal abuse: “I am / a member of / the
scar clan.” Gertrude Lebans reflects on “the seven immortal
sisters,” perhaps suggesting that these poets, who “share an
unquenchable curiosity and concern about women’s lives,” are like
the Taoist mythological figures who distil “knowledge into power,
wisdom, and poetry.”

This well-produced book was developed to encourage “women in Canada
[to] remember to put to paper, to film, to canvas, to clay, to whatever
medium we choose, our insights into each other’s countries, into each
other’s lives.” Photographs and one-page biographies of the authors
are included.