The Simon Poems

Bert Almon is a professor of English at the University of Alberta. He is
the author of Calling Texas, Earth Prime, and Mind the Gap.

Allen Bell has written film scripts for Atom Egoyan. He does not have a
vocation as a poet. These poems to a child (written between 1976 and
1980) are rambling editorials about life rather than genuine works of
art. The sense of the line is minimal and effects are conveyed by flat
statements rather than by imagery or figurative language. They mingle
sentimentality with harsh subjects like child murder, a mixture that
does not succeed. These poems reposed for years in the archives of the
University of Victoria along with some of Bell’s film scripts. They
should have remained there, as they will do the author’s reputation no
good.