Interpreting Silence

Peter Baltensperger is the editor and publisher of Moonstone Press and
the author of Arcana.

These poems speak eloquently of the importance of love, the value of
close relationships, the vicissitudes of growing and becoming, changing
and aging. The steady flow of Batchelor’s language and the
accessibility of her voice cover with admirable ease the wide range of
topics comprising her new collection, as she addresses family members
and friends, acquaintances and passersby in her search for the perfect
moment, the perfect relationship, the perfect way of being. Poems that
highlight closeness and intimacy alternate with verses about absence and
longing. Musings about an often-fickle muse lead from a prosaic Monday
morning to a sublime encounter with a dead friend, and back to the
prosaic again, in easy undulations.

At times the poet seems to float along on life’s eddies with just a
few light strokes; then she nosedives to the murky bottom of some
disturbing dream, into the depths of her feelings to explore an aspect
of a relationship, a facet of her life. Then she resurfaces for another
panoramic look at her own or someone else’s daily existence, before
venturing far beneath the surface again to delve into the vast mysteries
of love and desire, happiness and despair, the substances of life.

By the end of the book, the reader has experienced a variety of aspects
of the poet’s life and the lives of those around her, and has been
able to gain insights into the workings of the poetic mind, the role of
the muse, the ups and down of poetic creation. A pleasure to read,
Interpreting Silence makes an interesting and enjoyable contribution to
Canadian poetry.