A Quarterly of Criticism and Review i^^^^^^^^fcEjfc $15

Books in ReviewThe engaging indirectness of the unfoldingrelationship between tough-talking streetwoman and well-meaning researcher inChrystos' monologue "Interview."Like the heterogeneity of the three booksreviewed here, the diversity in this anthology'scontents (the non-fiction sectionincludes analysis of Native Americanpoetry, reflections on two-spiritedness andon substance abuse, and a Cherokee alternative/supplementto the Genesis Edenstory—and contributors address quite differentaudiences) is reassuring. A Nativelesbian editor and small presses are factorshere; editing and publishing present a lessmonolithic front than when Dawendinefirst faced the industry.Fathering PoemsGary GeddesThe Perfect Cold Warrior. Quarry $14.95Paul WilsonDreaming: My Father's Body- Coteau $9.95Joseph McLeodThe Rim Poems. Penumbra $995Tom MarshallGhost Safari. Oberon n.p.Tom HenighanHome Planet. Golden Dog $6.95Allan SafarikOn the Way to Ethiopia. Polestar Book $11.95Reviewed by Stefan HaagThe three sections of Gary Geddes's ThePerfect Cold Warrior display a fine sense forthe relations between form and content, adimension in his poetry that addsimmensely to its effectiveness. The sectionthat most directly lives up to Geddes's reputationas a "political poet" is "Palestine."However, in dealing with political realities,Geddes focusses on the personal, thus providinga context for the political. Truly anoutstanding achievement in its simplicityand hurt outcry against injustice is "WhatDoes a House Want?" which deals withPalestinians being evicted from theirhomes, which are then demolished by theIsraelis. As I write this review, I hear on thenews of the most serious clashes betweenPalestinians and Israelis in decades andGeddes's poems seem to document a desperationthat reaches beyond the politicalor personal.At first, the fourteen poems of "TheDrive" seem forced into regular stanzas ofthree to five lines. But the more one readsthese poems, the more one realizes that thisprocrustean bed leads to interesting effects.Especially where a new stanza begins in themiddle of a sentence, the aural tensionbuilds up and emphasizes the tension ofliving on the Drive, as in this example:Meanwhile, the bike grows moreflamboyant,sprouting bright plastic streamersfrom the handlebars, metal rattlersmounted to the frame with clothes-pinsto strike rotating spokes and shatterthe early morning silence of The Drive.(27-28)In this way, we appear to be constantly onthe edge of a new turn in the poem, relivingGeddes's experiences of growing up in thisneighbourhood. The atmosphere of "TheDrive" is one of insistent and ubiquitousapprehension of the unexpected. Just as thespeaker of the poems knows that there maybe "days when the pay cheque / doesn'tmake it home" because of a drinking bingeof his father, we know that there may bestanzas that do not end on a full stop andleave us on the edge.Geddes's father appears often in thesepoems. "It's the other I seek. .. the timebombof the father I carry like a tickingclock inside" is a memorable sentence thatechoes through several poems in this section.Geddes seems to use these echoes toexplore his father's influence on his own130