Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets: Selected Poems 1962-1996

hooray! i found the 2nd book of poems that i love. about a year ago i decided to have a go at liking poetry. it's been rocky, with ups and downs along the way, but only two peaks of excellence have i so far experienced the wonders of. the first peak was billy collins collection "sailing alone around the room." now a second work of poetic joy has entered my mind: al purdy's "rooms for rent in the outer planets," a collection of poems written between 1962 and 1996. in the afterword (a collection of blurbs, interview outtakes, and whatnot) to this work mr purdy answers the question "what do readers want from a poem?" he says: "primarily, i suppose, to be entertained. and that involves tuning in on some emotion or feeling or discovery that is larger and more permanent than he is. some flashing insight that adds a new perspective to living." well, i don't know if that fits all readers of poetry, but it certainly works for me. mr purdy's poetry has a strong sense of history running through it like a current. his words romance the past. and often the very, very distant past at that (pre-mankind). standing here and now and contemplating that long distance over time seems a preoccupation in his writing. a connection from then up to now haunts much of his work. in a way he reminds me of one of my favorite non-fiction authors; loren eiseley, an anthropologist and naturalist whose work is filled with the same sort of beauty and wonder involved in connections between beings of the distant past and the present. mr purdy; though, balances his serious side with a fine sense of humor that infuses his poetry with an anodyne (however temporary) to the tragedy life has been awash in through the ages. a great poet. an encouragement and inspiration for me to move ahead and search out more poets i can relate to and love.

I first heard Al Purdy described as "The Canadian Bukowski." Although Bukowski was a true admirer of his work (and Bukowski didn't give this honor to many), their respective styles are very, very different. Whereas Bukowski's poetry can be read quickly by damn near anyone-- the lines concise and almost always following the rhythms of everyday speech-- Purdy's poems are more meditative, sprawling, and complex. The tough guy pose that Bukowski perfected is only one facet of Purdy's narrative voice; it pops out unexpectedly, say when taking a dump outside in the beautiful, terrifying North of Canada and eskimo dogs attempt to eat it. Often Purdy is a nature poet. Like Jim Tully, Charles Willeford, Jack London and many other great prole writers, at one time Purdy was a road kid, a tramp, but over the course of ROOMS FOR RENT IN THE OUTER PLANETS we see him constantly developing his style, refusing to be pigeonholed. These poems are best taken a handful at a time-- which is good because if you (like me) live in America, you're going to have to shell out about $20-$30 to get this approx. 150 page book from Canada, and you'll want to savor the poems slowly. I know next to nothing about Canadian poetry, but after reading this I'm ready to make a run for the border just to check out the bookstores. Canada-- who knew?