Scarring Endymion

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

Patrick Woodcock prefers to write about history, faith, and mythology.
Wisely, he spends his time in eastern Europe, especially Poland, whose
citizens are reclaiming their Catholic heritage after decades of
Communist rule. Such exposure to traditional societies has inspired
three books of poetry, including this one.

Although the first section is entitled “The Myth-Makers (postcards
[branches] from the hollows of Psalm 6),” and includes the psalm
itself, it is not didactic. Woodcock shares his Christian beliefs
without proselytization, an attitude that encourages the reader to
appreciate the verses’ religious overtones. The poet condemns the 20th
century in “The Great American Rhino.” The background—a barracks
in Birkenau concentration camp—establishes this poem’s tone. The
title character is an obvious caricature of America, but not a crass
stereotype like “Mister Twister,” the Soviet Union’s plutocratic
archvillain. He emulates the rhinoceros’ thick-headedness, not its
ferocity.

This morally detached intellectual lectures on “mutualism and
misfortune” but demonstrates his obtuseness by posing for a photograph
at the latrine. This lack of sensitivity makes him appear to be less
than human. Woodcock demonstrates his concern for others’ feelings by
quoting a Pole in “*footnote.” The citizen asks the Canadian poet to
“leave the people ... who you do not know / alone.” If writers
heeded that statement, there might not be any literature. Still,
creativity has its costs; there is a fine line between dramatic licence
and presumption.

The publisher rightly calls this work “strikingly varied in its
poetic-style.” In a collection that includes prose, Woodcock jumps the
traces but supports his craft with the phrase, “Poetry, especially,
bad poetry, / must be defended.” This bold statement of defence is
added to the artists’ arsenal.