Moorings, the fourteenth collection from award-winning poet Christopher Levenson, is a profound meditation on loss and ageing. “ It is an intricate business, growing old,” posits the speaker in the titular poem. “ Though I once had a photographic memory,” the poet reminisces, “ those negatives are lost, and will not develop.” Time and old age make room for loss, but so does greed— “ with time language disintegrates… lost to dementia … speech taken over by corporate empires, unique ways of feeling lost.… ” Moving from memories of childhood and artistic tributes to frustrated critiques of capitalism balanced with doses of lighthearted wordplay, these poems celebrate the colour of life, yet are wary of the darkness that can be found inside and around us. Pulling from a wide range of experience and memories but always anchored in the particular and the familiar, the poems in Moorings confront ageing and death head-on, while also celebrating the spiritual sustenance of friendship and memories in our steadily changing world.
Available for purchase at: Caitlin Press, Amazon, Indigo
The British Columbia Review, Trish Bowering:
It’s a bit startling as we get older to look up and realize that we’re on different shores than we once were. Decades speed by and, when suddenly in unfamiliar territory, it can be wise to pause and look back, revisiting the markers of our journey that have shaped us. This can bring a poignant nostalgia, but also imbue the present with meaning.
In Moorings, Christopher Levenson (Night Vision) brings a sharp sensibility to his own life as he focuses his lens on the islands of his past experience while firmly situating himself in his present circumstance.
read more
Vancouver Sun, Tom Sandborn
Mooring can mean the act of securing a boat with ropes, or it can mean an established practice or stabilizing influence. This is an apt metaphor that guides what may well be the nearly 90-year-old Vancouver poet Christopher Levenson’s final work.
Sometimes adrift on seas of loss and old age, the poet searches for safe anchorage in memories — of beauty, friendship and art. This is a lovely text that puts all the craft and experience of a lifetime on display. Tender, witty and sharply observed, these are late works that attest to this poet’s dedication to his craft and to the numinous moments when beauty and grace flare out over an otherwise dark sea.
read more