Epics of everyday life

Queen of all the Dustbalis and Othes Epics of Everyday Life, by
(i Richardson, Polesicr Press Ltd., 95 pp., paper.

WHEN THE demands of purple prose are too much for the overwrought

mind, just chew on a chunk of doggerel and enjoy the balm of rhyme.
BC radio listeness will be tickled pink to know that
favorite Gabereau guest Bill Richardson has com-
piled his goofy verses into a book.

Here, gathered in one glowing
collection are the “epics of
everyday life’’ — poems that
Richardson penned for ordinary
Canadians across this poem-poor
laixel (or at least for ordinary CBC
juntkies).

Although I generally scom in-
troductions, this one is a must-
read as it sets the tone for the rest
of the book and explains the
complex workings of the muse
(which, by the way, involve
vacuum Cleaner attachments ...).

in the introduction, we meet
Nune Clay, Richardson’s connec-
tion to the cause that inspires his
rhymes.

(na strange emergency rcom
encounter that i won't give away,
a voice speaks in Nurse Clay's ear:
“Be not afraia, ‘You are blessed
among nurses.” Thereafter she
receives a revelation about the
healing properties of poetry.

' _ Murse Clay then leads us
through the corridors, pointing out
the bacigreund behind Richard-
son’s poems. in Pas de Stew, far
instance, a poem about pareats
having to make ret another
costume ‘for the little dear’s dance
recital, she siates in eammest, “It is
a family connection that Mr.
Richardson holds dear to his heart,
as he hirself is the child of

Richardson's busy pen versifies
the pet peeves and tiny coreforts
of life. On Have Gums Will Travel,
he extols the virtwes of private
hygiene and chastises those wio
think teeth, nose and ear picking is
a public activity:

“To all you thoughtless twits
who in a restaurant or a queue!
Take a tength of floss and, making

passes/Through your teeth, ancint
the rourn with toothy residucs,/

Rarbara Black

—me

BOOK REVIEW

And leave your spots on other
people's glasses/To you | wish a
legacy of lacerated gums ..."’

The barmy bard reveals his mi-
raculous powers of insight into the
fives of entirely other species, in
inside Lookin’ Out, a poem about
what cats get up to when we jeave
the house.

He writes “The first thing your
kittens do is start to work the
phones./They cail up all their
friends and say, ‘Dig this we’re
home alone!/The two-legged
wonder's gone to work. Hot dog!
Another chance/To claw the chairs
to ribbons and to chew her
favorite plants.’ ’’

Do not look for descriptions of
high and mighty peaks, nor phito-
sophical musings, nor socio-
political tinks. Tis book is as
down to earth as its title boldly
states. It's all about dust and poop
and kids and quirky mates.

Quaint, if meagre, drawings are

FSH O-0005767.0-6 cY
Unbelievable! The true stosy of the discovery of
Oni seOR. whic holds the key to
the huture of space exptoretion, and the
govemmment's attempt to censor all information.
LIBRARIES, BOOK STORES $8.95

wbbis hin gl Tel: 604-433-7415

CALL 245-2211

“ON A SPACE AVAILABILITY BASIS-OFFER! EXPIRES DEC. 21/92

by Bill Horne.

Felines, Great Poets on
Notorious Cats, Linocuts by
Martha Paulos, Chronicie
Books, 64 pr., hardcover.

Cats are maddening, affec-
tienate, aloof. It is their sheer in-
dividuality and unpredictability
that makes them treasured as a
contrast to that slobbering, servile
species, the canine.

In Felines, Great Poets on
Notorious Cats, kitties of all
temperaments are celedsatec and
sneered at in verse. The poems of
Ogden Nash, Emily Dickinson,
William Butler Yeats, T.S. Eliot and
more grace these attractively
designed pages, accompanied by
Martha Paulos’ delightful Enocuts,
an art form not much in use these
days.

The poems are for the most part
rather genteel, cestainly not
vulgar.

Unlike Bill Richardson‘s book,
the illustrations in Felines are
played with equal weight to the
poetry. Paulos captures cats in ac-
tivities they are famous for: the
mystery of purring, baiting the
neighborhood dogs from a safe
place, scratching the master or
mistress in a fit of feline affection,
and terrorizing the house when
the owners foolishly leave home
with kitty-cat inside.

We are happy to announce that
Ismat Danjji is now our full time
esthetician and she will be offer-

ing 10% off all of her services.
(Offer expires Dec. 19/1992}
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