Blessing the Bones into Light

Olga Costopoulos teaches English at the University of Alberta.

Carla Funk’s first collection of poems is an impressive debut.
Blessing the Bones into Light is divided by subject into five sections,
ranging from the first, which explores the various tensions in an
unfortunately common kind of family—the rural Canadian prairie—to
the really interesting and richly imagined Section 3, a series written
from the perspectives of several of Solomon’s wives. Particularly
enjoyable are the poems in the fourth section. These and the “Death
Fragments,” which close the book, make the collection worth buying.
The only section of the book that is not outstanding is the second,
which deals with the body in ways already done by others. Funk’s
favorite image seems to be the tongue.