Glad and Sorry Seasons (Trade Paper)

Description

The second full-length collection from sonneteer and formalist poet Catherine Chandler, Glad and Sorry Seasons brings together new suites of poems—on grief, recovery, the deadly sins, and the virtues of faith, hope, and love—to meditate on those polarities of light and dark, joy and sorrow, that illuminate and cloud our lives by turn. With subjects ranging from Alzheimer’s to Edward Hopper’s Automat, in handsomely crafted stanzas and metres, and including translations from Québecois and Latin American poets, Glad and Sorry Seasons is a stunning and learned offering from a poet unmistakably committed to form.

Waiting

For the man in the Intensive Care Unit waiting room,
Hôpital Notre-Dame, Montréal, June 2012

Some nights I’ve seen
a slice of silver slink across this room
I now call home,
above my makeshift bed—a rickety chair
beside the snack machine.
Close by, the elevators whirr and beep.
I cannot, dare not, drift asleep,
let down my guard,
inviting shoulder taps, a whispered Sir,
or dreams of her
once-vivid eyes that stare & stare & stare,
dull, distant, hard.
Thus I will will her through another day.
Make crazy compromises. Pray.

Praise for Glad and Sorry Seasons

“I’m still in awe of the sheer beauty of this sumptuous collection that looks and feels as if it had been born this way, rather than made at all! The book is a delight, full of humour and pain and wisdom. Cathy Chandler is a marvel.”—Rhina P. Espaillat

“Extremely rewarding … the voice of a natural poet. Metrical poetry comes as easily to her as plain speech does to others. It is her native tongue.”—Angle

“Chandler boasts a strong collection of poetry that presents an argument for a return to older poetic forms to further explore the experiences of women and women writers in the present.” Philip Miletic, Canadian Literature