Cutting the Devil's Throat

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and honorary chief of the Mi’kmaq of Prince
Edward Island.

Cutting the Devil’s Throat is a commendable first book of poems by an
author just 30 years old. The three sequences of ghazals are
particularly well done—economical, acutely observed, and full of
strong and original images. The other poems belong in the more familiar
narrative tradition—anecdotal in style and characterized by the
warmth, bonding, and goodwill so often associated with the Maritimes
family. The poet’s gift for language is evident in such phrases as
“fern-like frost,” “the thirsty suck of frozen taps,” “chuckle
of the loon,” and “smooth-hipped shades.” Steeves is a name to
watch.