This clear, concise collection of verse focuses on family, both past and present. The approach is clearly stated in the title poem of the book, “If I Were a River,” in which the author begins, “I’d flow between this world / and a parallel universe / where my departed dwell.”
The departed make a number of fascinating appearances throughout the book, and the author explores how we are all deeply influenced even before we are born. The poem “Waiting…” is more than just a memory of her mother but a reliving, or even a revisit, to an experience when her mother is waiting outside at a bus stop with a cigarette in one hand and a red clutch purse in the other. The author, as a young woman, runs around packing her own bag, and in the end the mother leaves a scent of lavender in the air and the author sees “two raisin eyes” staring at her from a pot of porridge.
What is striking about these poems about the departed is how present and immediate they feel. In fact, there are three poems with the same title, “Visitation,” the first two about her grandmother and the third one about her father and mother. These are not just memories but actual visitations from the departed, not as ghosts but as living presences. It’s striking how the author can make these visits feel so real.
As for the poems that deal with the present time, the longest poem in the book is titled “My Husband’s Sixteen Days in St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital, St. John’s, Newfoundland 2022.” Each section of the nine-page poem begins with a date running from August 15 until September 3, the period of time he was in the hospital fighting against a Covid-19 infection. He was ultimately successful and recovered, but it’s overwhelming how confused he became from the sickness, constantly repeating the question, “How did I get here?” The poem is a fascinating exploration of dealing with a loved one’s pandemic-borne illness.
The language the author uses throughout this collection is extremely concise and understandable, direct and accessible. For example, in the verse about her husband’s struggle with Covid-19, she writes: “Your cheeks an unnatural red. / You cough throughout the night. / Sweat saturates your pajamas. / My night swarming with what ifs …”
In addition, she often connects the poems, not only to family, but to nature and the seasons. And, although many of the poems are about loved ones who have passed from this world, or those who are dealing with illness, there is nothing depressing about them. The departed return with a distinct vitality about them, imagined presences brought back to life. The very last poem, “Unfinished Landscape,” begins with a three-line stanza: “Go straight to the purest greens, / ride hot summer’s kiss in poppy reds, / cultivate imaginings under blush-pink days.”
Altogether, If I Were a River is a fascinating collection of poetry: unusual, captivating and delightful.
Bios
Mark Frutkin
Mark Frutkin has published ten novels, four collections of poetry, and three works of non-fiction. In 2007, his novel, Fabrizio’s Return, won the Trillium Prize for Best Book in Ontario and the Sunburst Award. In 1988, his novel, Atmospheres Apollinaire, was short-listed for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. His most recent poetry collection, Hermit Thrush, (Quattro, 2015) was a finalist for the Ottawa Book Awards, and his most recent novel was titled The Artist and the Assassin (Porcupine’s Quill). He has written numerous reviews and essays for Arc and was once its editor. [updated in 2023]