Breath Takes

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

In Breath Takes, Douglas Barbour makes innovative use of the poetic form
called “ghazal.” This is an ancient Persian form made up of a
limited number of stanzas. There are recurring rhymes but there is no
visibly logical thematic connection between the stanzas. An undercurrent
of connection comes through the words used in the stanzas, causing the
meaning to become apparent almost subconsciously, as with a piece of
music. The ancient Persian themes were mainly concerned with love.
Barbour adds a twist in his verse.

Instead of using the abstract concept of love as his theme, Barbour
substitutes “breath,” drawing a connection between the workings of
the heart and the lungs. Breath becomes a palpable expression of
sensations, feelings, and life through his descriptions: “always
always air in the lungs continued / vision shifts in mist back back in
time.” The breaks in the lines reflect the act of breathing. Each
breath ghazal should be read several times to completely fall into the
rhythm, which then becomes natural and comfortable. Though the style may
take some time to understand, it is worth the effort.

The section “& the returns” contains poems written for and from
various other writers. As Barbour states in his notes, he has composed
two homolinguistic translations for Leonard Cohen. “History:
Manhattan-Montreal-Berlin” was developed from a lyric sheet and reads
as a prose piece. “W[H]earing it Fragmented Memories” is a word/line
acrostic from the notes to “Famous Blue Raincoat.”

Barbour teaches creative writing and modern poetry at the University of
Alberta. Breath Takes is his fourth published collection.