The Porcupinity of the Stars

Gary Barwin

• Publisher: Coach House Books
• Year: 2006
• ISBN:
  9781770562738
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Canadian Poetry
• Index: Literature

In this much-anticipated new collection, poet and musician Gary Barwin both continues and extends the alchemical collision of language, imaginative flight and quiet beauty that have made him unique among contemporary poets. As the Utne Reader has noted, what makes this work 'so compelling is Barwin's balance of melancholy with wide-eyed wonder.' The Porcupinity of the Stars sees the always bemused and wistful poet reaching into new and deeper territory, addressing the joys and vagaries of perception in poems touching on family, loss, wonder, and the shifting, often perplexing nature of consciousness. His Heisenbergian sensibility honed to a fine edge, the poems in this bright, bold and intensely visual book add a surreptitious intensity and wry maturity to Barwin's trademark gifts for subtle humour, solemn delight, compassion, and invention.

THREE

WHATEVER-IT-WAS

a casket of weeping birds
the old kindness

last ship of the ancient dead
whiplash from a bell

the moon does not recall
whatever-it-was

the sleepy ground
called only the mind

pale blossom behind the eyelids

everywhere should whisper
in our footsteps

BRICK

I will take care of the brick
because it came through my window

it is a damaged bird
unable to fly

I will make a safe bed for it
as I would help any broken thing

the truncated dove of a hand
the message that told me run

FOURTH PERSON

FIRST PERSON

the person with the breasts
the very long toenails
the yellow nose

then another one with breasts
no arms
a toenail taller than a tree

it’s supposed to be a toenail but
in real life it’s
a balcony

see how it has
a mouth
a fancy mouth

and a nose and ears
now I need to make
a body

this body is
pregnant
see the baby?

and the vagina
and now
I have to make
a sun
actually it doesn’t need a sun
that’s the lady’s hat

she’s just planning
to go outside

she doesn’t know that
this picture is warm

SECOND PERSON

this guy is mean
he doesn’t like
people
and he has rosy cheeks

but he’s still a kid
he’s got three nipples because
he’s mad
that makes his two nipples turn into
three

his vagina
wait! he’s not a boy
his bum
his pet cat

here’s his sad cat
the cat’s hair
like the colour of the cat

THIRD PERSON

this guy is grown up
he’s a captain and he’s lost his
eye

he’s a boy so he has
nipples

his forehead
his mouth
his hair
this is his dog and
this is his penis
these are Niagara Falls
and this is the guy

his chair
his neck
his hair
his feet
and Niagara Falls

he’s looking at Niagara Falls
and he’s pretty mad
because they’re all above him and
some are coming down

FOURTH PERSON

this guy’s unhappy
and he’s a bird
a Chinese bird
with a hat on him
but he doesn’t know

he’s a boy

nipple
nipple

and he’s very fancy

wings
wings

and he’s flying

WE ARE FAMILY

an organism which presses
against the planet

an organism which has hair
(sad, believable hair)
that refuses to believe

which has sensations
sick moves
and an interesting history

an organism which holds up its fingers
how many fingers
(if fingers are what they are)?

an organism with other organisms on it
and upon which it rains

an organism which sleeps
soft as a cloth

a baby in a bed full of babies
and the earth full of babies

THE LOOKOUT MAN

1

the woman is a high school calculus teacher
she knows nothing about synchronized swimming
she is in love

two brothers
a brother and a sister
a man and a woman
one of them balding

bummer!

2

if you ...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• CONTENTS
• ONE
• TWO
• THREE
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR