Suspicions

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island.

The dominant mood of this collection is quizzical, questing, even
cynical. Knight is master of the cryptic comment, the barbed allusion,
the sly, subtle innuendo. This is particularly evident in the 20 poems
of the “Watson” series, and in the 15 poems about the Gulf War,
where his comment becomes increasingly polemical. In the travel
sequence, the poet is much more reflective. The book’s illustrations
are all in black and white. The three depicting London reinforce the
claustrophobic sense of place, while those depicting celestial
navigation are more surrealistic and open to various interpretations.
The tenor of Knight’s poems ranges from the (deliberate?) flimsiness
of “Goodbye” to the profound comment on life in “Against
Advice.”