Kyrie

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

Barbara Colebrook Peace’s first book-length collection shows her wit
and skill in crafting a mythology that is both intensely personal and
satisfyingly accessible. Born in England and possessing a degree in
classical literature, she writes of Icarus, gargoyles, and Catholicism
with equal ease. Death and old age populate her poems, but she also
touches on Old English songs, Native and Inuit matters, Chinese
embroidery, and the touching plight of a donkey.

Readers can trace the metamorphosis of certain figures through the
book’s three sections. “The Gargoyle,” for example, is first
presented as an abandoned gothic artifact who has forgotten “whether
he’s a limb of the enemy, / a sad cloth of ashes, / or the mercies of
never.” He then becomes a grave marker, weather-worn to “an eyeless
core.” Finally, he wonders, “How long can he hang here” and
“When will it be his turn to be the Christ?”

Peace’s poetry invites the reader to return, uncovering deeper and
more varied meaning with each visit. Kyrie is highly recommended not
only for poetry collections, but also for women’s studies, classical
studies, gerontology, or religious studies collections in need of
enrichment.