The Colours of the Forest
Will be published approx. on 18. February 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-1-55017-202-7 (ISBN)
Description
In this new collection, Canadian poet Tom Wayman, long honoured for his incisive observations on life in the workplace and the classroom, takes a more personal turn. Many of these poems celebrate the gains and losses of "middle-aging," while others reflect on the deaths of parents and friends. Readers of "Life with Dick" and "The Big O" will be relieved to find that, through it all, one quality of Wayman's writing that keeps gaining in vigour is his fine subversive sense of humour.
Considered the guru of the North American work poetry movement, Wayman adds depth to the tradition in his latest work by writing white-collar workers alongside blue-collar workers, drawing on his experiences in both worlds.
Considered the guru of the North American work poetry movement, Wayman adds depth to the tradition in his latest work by writing white-collar workers alongside blue-collar workers, drawing on his experiences in both worlds.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
British Columbia
Canada
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Weight
263 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-55017-202-7 (9781550172027)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Tom Wayman was born in Ontario in 1945, but has spent most of his life in British Columbia. He has worked at a number of jobs, both blue and white-collar, across Canada and the U.S., and has helped bring into being a new movement of poetry in these countries--the incorporation of the actual conditions and effects of daily work. His poetry has been awarded the Canadian Authors' Association medal for poetry, the A.J.M. Smith Prize, first prize in the USA Bicentennial Poetry Awards competition, and the Acorn-Plantos Award; in 2003 he was shortlisted for the Governor-General's Literary Award. He has published more than a dozen collections of poems, six poetry anthologies, three collections of essays and three books of prose fiction. He has taught widely at the post-secondary level in Canada and the U.S., most recently (2002-2010) at the University of Calgary. Since 1989 he has been the Squire of "Appledore," his estate in the Selkirk Mountains of southeastern BC.
Content
AUTUMN'S GATE
The Hallows 11
Autumn's Gate 12
The Alts Visit 14
To Wait With a Person Dying 15
My Mother's Burial 18
The Turn of the Tide 23
I'll Be Right Back 26
THE TWO COUNTRIES
For William Stafford 29
The Quarrel 31
The Two Countries 33
Other Powers 36
Teachers at Risk 38
Post-Secondary Education 40
The Ferryman 42
Sorry My Paper Is Late, But 45
Semester's End 46
The Museum 48
Useless 50
Body Map 53
War on a Round Planet 56
Casualties 58
It Was My Country 60
THE CLOWN
The Death of the Clown 65
The Burial of the Clown 67
The Monument to the Clown 69
The Resurrection of the Clown 71
The Childhood of the Clown
The Dreams of the Clown 74
The Revenge of the Clown 75
FROM A DARK SHORE
In a House of Women 79
A Sad Day 81
Harbinger 83
When We Parted 84
The Road's Side 86
Anthem: Under the Horned Moon 89
A Self 90
"The Emotions Are Not Skilled Workers" 92
In the Birth Canal 93
The Dark Ones 96
Where Mountain Water 98
Sophia 101
La Belle Dame Sans Coeur 104
THE BALD MAN
The Bald Man 109
Insertion 111
The Nipple 114
The Big 0 116
Excavation 118
Grandfather and Grandmother 120
The Nest 122
Life With Dick 124
BILLY: A PASTORAL
The Valley by Night 129
Billy's Peccadillos 130
Reverend Billy 131
Billy on Industrial Progress 132
Billy and Housing 134
Billy on the Valley 135
Billy and Women 136
Intrusion 137
Billy Employed 142
THE CALL
The Call 147
Sky Gravity 150
Poetry Overdose 152
The Genius 154
The Colours of the Forest 155
The Hallows 11
Autumn's Gate 12
The Alts Visit 14
To Wait With a Person Dying 15
My Mother's Burial 18
The Turn of the Tide 23
I'll Be Right Back 26
THE TWO COUNTRIES
For William Stafford 29
The Quarrel 31
The Two Countries 33
Other Powers 36
Teachers at Risk 38
Post-Secondary Education 40
The Ferryman 42
Sorry My Paper Is Late, But 45
Semester's End 46
The Museum 48
Useless 50
Body Map 53
War on a Round Planet 56
Casualties 58
It Was My Country 60
THE CLOWN
The Death of the Clown 65
The Burial of the Clown 67
The Monument to the Clown 69
The Resurrection of the Clown 71
The Childhood of the Clown
The Dreams of the Clown 74
The Revenge of the Clown 75
FROM A DARK SHORE
In a House of Women 79
A Sad Day 81
Harbinger 83
When We Parted 84
The Road's Side 86
Anthem: Under the Horned Moon 89
A Self 90
"The Emotions Are Not Skilled Workers" 92
In the Birth Canal 93
The Dark Ones 96
Where Mountain Water 98
Sophia 101
La Belle Dame Sans Coeur 104
THE BALD MAN
The Bald Man 109
Insertion 111
The Nipple 114
The Big 0 116
Excavation 118
Grandfather and Grandmother 120
The Nest 122
Life With Dick 124
BILLY: A PASTORAL
The Valley by Night 129
Billy's Peccadillos 130
Reverend Billy 131
Billy on Industrial Progress 132
Billy and Housing 134
Billy on the Valley 135
Billy and Women 136
Intrusion 137
Billy Employed 142
THE CALL
The Call 147
Sky Gravity 150
Poetry Overdose 152
The Genius 154
The Colours of the Forest 155