Glebe Report - Volume 38 Number 3 - March 14 2008

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BOOKS A wild and wondrous pen and paint brush By Sharon Abron Drache The Lunatic Muse by Joe Rosenblatt Exile Editions $22.95 (paper) Joe Rosenblatt is a true original. In his early seventies, which Rosenblatt refers to as a "crespuscular age," he lays out for readers candid interpretations of both his poetry and painting achievements. Author of several volumes of poetry and prose, including the 1976 Governor General award-winning Top Soil, Rosenblatt is also a successful visual artist who for many years used only pen and ink. For the last two decades, he has allowed himself the luxury of colour. His crowded satirical drawings of the animal kingdom tinged with their warped human qualities have gained Rosenblatt a huge following throughout the world. In Bologne, Italy, he was celebrated in 1999 for his unique mythopoetics, and in Ottawa his 1990s exhibition entitled "The Voluptuous Gardener" was acquired for the permanent collection at the Carleton University Art Gallery. As influences on his early work, Rosenblatt cites Gwendolyn MacEwen for her metaphysical bent and Milton Acorn for his proletarian insights. Then Rosenblatt proceeds to meticulously examine MacEwen's and Acorn's respective oeuvres with as much care and caution as his own. In a reprinted review of Shadow Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen by Rosemary Sullivan, entitled "Gwen's Magic," Rosenblatt mourns and lauds his dear friend who died at age 46. He regrets that Ms. Sullivan did not explore the splendid drafts of Gwen's best poems. As an example, he cites "A Breakfast for Barbarians," which, Rosenblatt writes, "was inspired by Gwen's trip to Israel and influenced by the sixties' hostilities between Arabs and Jews." Rosenblatt also provides an indepth analysis of Milton Acorn's "The Natural History of Elephants" which Rosenblatt calls "Acorn's pachyderm-powered poem." Rosenblatt describes Acorn as a retired carpenter from Prince Edward Island who took great pride in being hailed as "The People's Poet." But Mr. Rosenblatt also writes, "Unike Milt who retired his carpenter tools to become an advocate of the people, like the great boss carpenter, Jesus I wasn't going to give up my day job as a freight handler at the Old Canadian Pacific Railway." For six and a half years, Rosenblatt worked the night shift, loading and and unloading boxcars. He also worked for The Billy Bee Company. "I recall opening up milk cans filled with Alberta raw honey and being awed by the sight of the encased bee body parts allied to wax honeycombs continually dripping with viscous gold, and discerning touches of dainty Naples-Yellow-coloured pollen lighter than fairy dust." At that moment in 1958, Rosenblatt writes: "I became hooked, mentally destabilized by hauntingly alien voices that would suddenly erupt from within and there was no turning back from that incurable disease called poetry." Joe Rosenblatt Rosenblatt's his first and greatest influence was the American poet Emily Dickinson. Her poems written in the 1860s haunted the younger Rosenblatt. "Have I not the same tics and obsessions about exotic flora, birds, bees, and snakes, and visions and views of a despoiled world that should be beautified in Emily's way?" . Mr. Rosenblatt began to write his famous bee poems (his wife Faye set them to music), considered by Canadian and Italian scholars as Rosenblatt's unique mystical contribution to Canadian and world poetry. His muse works best in a fantastical zoo of his own creation, a personalized asylum, where the poet drinks in the world's largesse and spews forth new life, a deliberately obscure form of fleeting purity, i.e., the poem. Rosenblatt was also a close colleague of the deceased poet Al Purdy. "Very early on, we agreed to disagree.... His muse inspirationally worked the societal zoo, and did it globally: whether it was Cuba, Easter Island or the Canadian Far North, there was a zoo of humanity, just as I had a preserve, or poetic zoo selectively populated by real and imaginary beasts, winged, quadrupeds, or limbless reptiles, who behaved oddly like people. Despite our differences, he tolerated me..." Two English poets whom Rosenblatt also celebrates in this quasi Memoir are Christopher Smart and John Clare. Smart, in a mental asylum from 1758 to 1763 worked on a Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated Glebe Report March 14, 2008 37 free-verse manuscript of Nkhich only 32 pages survive. John Clare's Poems Descriptive of Rural Life (1820) and The Shepherd's Calendar (1827) outsold Keats' poetry, yet Clare was diagnosed as suffering from dementia due to his longtime addiction to poetry. As Rosenblatt sums up Clare's life, he appears to identify strongly with the dead so-called "mad" poet. "It can be speculated that every time a poet embarks on a new poem, he or she is subject to toxicity absorptions in the crevasse of a runaway imagination, and the fantasies that enter the poet's brain as spirochetes of delusion. The tectonic plates start to shift..." Bless Joe Rosenblatt's wild and wondrous pen and paint brush he is profoundly adept at celebrating the uniqueness of being human. Here is a Canadian poet and painter whose majestic inner world is as rich and peopled with imagery as the poems and visuals created by the late William Blake. HELEN BUDAY Sales Representative (613) 226-8790 BUSINESS (613) 226-4392 FAX - (800) 472-6512 TOLL FREE COLDLueu. BANKeR COBURN REALTY [13. 1415 Woodroffe Ave. Nepean, Ontario K2C 1V9 Helen-Buday@coldwellbanker.ca ng ;ay C " New and exciting draina, and ual arts for ch ildren P1/4 9-15 located on n beau elBobq's l Lake Westport, Ontario. 4I.CBt Il0 SINN. Contact us by phone: (613)261-6466 or Email: longbaycamp@gmail.com Visit our new_website! 11111.910 11.11.11 ISTIC www.longbaycamp.com Precision Stone Masonry offers fuff fandscaping, stone work and stone refurbishing services.
38 Glebe Report March 14, 2008 BOOKS PERHAPS SURPRISINGLY Ottawa' largest sale of antiques antiques antiques anti ues is abo continental ART retro DESIGN vinta e LIVING dazzle DIAMONDS Ottawa goes Hollywood Original Oscar winning art Fishing for Gold Vintage tackle is worth $$$ Get yours appraised1-3 Sat/Sun Architectural Art Brilliant one-of-a-kind pieces French Connection Meet Parisian auctioneers Free Appraisals Canadian House & Home's Janet Carlile 1-3 on Sat/Sun r PLUS: 40,000 sq./ft of decorator finds, design pieces and antiques The Fieldhouse at Carleton University Bronson Ave. at Sunnyside Free Parkin. asinter.com 613 521-1970 $7 Mark your calendar! $2.00 off with this ad planetofsound Kaleidoscope Kids' Books picks for Easter If you're looking for a lasting and non-sugary Easter treat, why not leave out a book for your treasure hunter to find? Here are our suggestions for this Easter. Where Are Baby's Easter Eggs? by Karen Katz. Baby is looking for Easter eggs, but underneath the flaps are lots of other sparkly Easter treats: a beautiful bonnet, fluffy bunnies and colourful jelly beans. A fun board book for your toddler. The Biggest Easter Basket Ever by Steven Kroll. Two mice learn about cooperation and fun as they prepare for Mouseville's Easter celebration and contest to create the biggest Easter basket. With fun foil stickers, this one might make your kids forget about their chocolate bunny and Easter eggs (at least for a couple of minutes!). The Story of the Easter Bunny by Katherine Tegen. At long last, our favorite bunny's secrets are revealed in this lovely little paperback picture book. Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny by Barbara Park. How did Junie B. get stuck wearing a dumb bunny suit? And how can she possibly find eggs when she keeps tripping over her huge big rabbit feet? Will Junie B. end up with egg on her face? Or will the day deliver some very "uneggspected" results? A funny early chapter book. Great Easter Egg Hunt by Michael Garland. With its suspenseful treasure hunt plot, this magical picture book set in the land of the Easter bunnies offers more than two hundred hidden objects to find, puzzles to solve, and intriguing clues that lead to a surprise ending a meeting with the great Easter bunny himself! Max's Chocolate Chicken by Rosemary Wells. Max, the mischievous toddler, is far too busy with mud puddles and marching ants to look for Easter eggs. Imagine Ruby's surprise when Max finds (and eats!) the chocolate chicken that is supposed to be given to the one who has gathered the most eggs. Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith. The story of Easter is told here through the eyes of the donkey that carried Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. He watches the Last Supper, he sees Jesus brought before Pontius Pilate, he is there when Jesus is crucified, and he witnesses the joy of the Resurrection. Every year, as these events are remembered, this beautiful retelling from Brian Wildsmith is a lovely book to share with children. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Di Camillo. While not an Easter story, this beautiful story of a porcelain rabbit's journey to discover the power (and price) of love is a timeless family read-aloud. 1194 Bank St., 613.731.4434 www.planetofsoundonline.com Performance Realty Dan Moloughney, B. Eng Sales Representative 165 Pretoria Ave., Ottawa, ON K1S 1X1 Bus: 613.238.2801 Fax: 613.238.4583 Toll Free: 1.877.757.7386 Email: dan.m@rogers.com www.OttawaHomesAndProperties.com $349.99 Tivoli Model One AM/FM Radio $3495.00 Pro-Ject Debut 111 Turntable Audio Research Tube Amplifier WE BUY RECORD COLLECTIONS! Centretown Community Health Centre Cennle de santé communautaire du Centre-ville 420 rue Cooper Street Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2N6 www.centretownchc.org HOURS OF OPERATION (EXCEPT FOR HOLIDAYS) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 8:30 a.m. 4:45 p.m. Wednesday 8:45 a.m. 4:45 p.m. MEDICAL & SOCIAL SERVICES WALK-IN: Monday Friday 1:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. Evening Appointments Available for Medical & Social Services Monday 5:00 8:00 p.m. Tuesday 5:00 8:00 p.m. Wednesday 5:00 8:00 p.m. For 24-hour on-call medical emergency service call 233-4697 Building healthier communities... together Ensemble.., pour bâtir des communautés en meilleure santé
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Glebe Report - Volume 38 Number 3 - March 14 2008

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