Fluttertongue, Book 2: The Book of Emmett

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.

Although they are presented as Books 1 and 2 of the same project, The
Book of Games and The Book of Emmett are widely different. The Book of
Emmett is pretty much concerned with one thing: Emmett, the poet’s
son. It begins with Emmett’s birth and traces his growth and effect on
the author to the point when he is a preschooler “pedalling like fury
on your tricycle.” It’s a book of poems about the wonders of being a
parent and about how much Smith loves his son. These feelings and
thoughts, while understandable, do not merit an entire book. How many
baby pictures must we endure?

The Book of Games is more varied and daring. It is divided into five
parts, each one having its own character. The “white cycle”
sequence, for example, is partially concrete poetry, while “a game to
be played,” the fifth section, consists of short-line, impressionistic
pieces. This is a book worth looking into.