Saving Camelot

Melanie Marttila is a Sudbury-based freelance writer and writing
consultant.

Katherine L. Gordon, vice-president of the Canadian Poetry Association
and author of An Impact of Butterflies, presents us with a collection of
poetry steeped in courtly love, pagan spirituality, and lilting imagery
that is both literary and photographic.

Readers who opt to join the poet on her “hopeless quest … of
romantic ordeal” are promised a “rough journey” that may well be
“exhilarating.” Although the journey is not for every reader,
treasure awaits the hearty adventurer. “The Other Side Of The
Candle,” for example, contains the lines: “Into powdered glass of
night / Inhale scissored sky / Wear only magnetic purple air / Against
opening skin.” These gems can easily be lost amid the layers of
sentiment, however.

The photographs that appear on every page are lovely and serve as a
uniting theme within the collection, although the seemingly random
insertion of Celtic knotwork works against the visual flow. Saving
Camelot is recommended for libraries with collections featuring Canadian
poets, women writers, or spiritually based work.