Jerusalem, Beloved

Sheila Martindale is poetry editor of Canadian Author and Bookman and
the author of No Greater Love.

This book was inspired by the author’s visit to Jerusalem and occupied
Palestine. Brandt offers some rich imagery of the exotic sights, sounds,
and smells of Jerusalem, as well as some bleak pictures of life in a
military zone. Fear is a way of life; property is expropriated, and
farmers’ olive trees are bulldozed. Brandt describes Jerusalem’s
Wailing Wall as “this broken piece / of promised land.” In a
restaurant she finds herself the object of a waiter’s lovelorn gaze
(“does he dream of Canada, as I once dreamed of / here?”).

Part 2 finds the poem at home in Winnipeg. Nature, the changing
seasons, and the experience of falling in love again are all powerfully
evoked. Part 3 is dedicated to other people, including friends and
lovers. The poet’s daughters grow up and leave home almost before
Brandt “gets motherhood right.” Some of the poems are private
monologues.

Despite the irritating use of all-lowercase letters, this is a strong
and haunting collection—one that demands more than one reading.