The Canopy
How do we move forward after enormous loss? Perhaps like the lightning-struck tree, “half of it shorn of leaves the other half full, standing, / swaying….” In these beautiful, intimate poems spoken from the heart of grief, the speaker urges herself not to flinch, “letting the knife settle where it will, / blade nestled between a rib and a rib.” Life and death go hand and hand here, and the natural world that consoles is also a constant reminder of our own mortality. Because Clark is a terrific poet, she can also make something true and moving “out of cold air…with lamenting words…an invigorating, heel-kicking tune.”
—Sharon Bryan, Sharp Stars
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The Canopyâa powerful book that proves not just that Patricia herself is a fantastic and essential poet I was given a copy by the publisher and voluntarily reviewed it.This is my first time reading the poet. I really enjoyed this collection. I felt an emotion collection to the poems. The main theme running through this collection is loss. Loss can come in many shapes and forms and all of these are touched on in these haunting poems. Even though the poems deal with similar themes, they are all quite different. Clarkâs poems are rich, vivid and very emotional. The Canopy contains the…
A Delicate and Sharp Book of Poetry âItâs stranger than you can account for, / being aliveâ¦â writes Patricia Clark in her latest collection of poems, The Canopyâa powerful book that proves not just that Patricia herself is a fantastic and essential poet, but that as a general rule, the greatest elements of human strength are found in tenderness and vulnerability. Even in grief, these poems are a celebration, a reaffirming of a deeply cherished undercurrent. These poems present a refreshing stylistic range as well, not to mention…