Light Industry

Don Precosky teaches English at the College of New Caledonia. He is the
co-editor of It’s Still Winter, an online journal of contemporary
Canadian poetry and poetics, and Four Realities: Poets of Northern B.C.

Light verse is meant to be clever, nimble, and witty. It should be a
good and quick read. It should not furrow the brow or bring on deep
thoughts of death and immortality. It should be swift as a rapier and
frothy as champagne. It is not the same as satire, though it can be
satirical at times. It is not the same as occasional verse, though
occasional verse can be light if the occasion warrants it.

Seymour Mayne’s Light Industry is nimble, frothy, and at times witty.
Mayne’s subjects include a trip to the dentist, milk bottles, misers,
and a trip to the Dairy Queen. It is the stuff of everyday life looked
at, for the most part, in a genial mood. There is no brooding or anger,
though there is gentle questioning and barbed humor. Here is a piece
that gets it just right: “Should we be like fish / without a care or
wish, / foolishly refusing to worry or fret / as we head direct / into
the Internet?” (from “Who’s Going to Get Fried”). The collection
takes less than an hour to read from cover to cover. Kick back and
enjoy.