Nisaba Merrieweather’s Of Myth, Murder, Madness, and Magic: Selected Poems is a marvelous selection of poems that I recommend taking your time to dive into with a nice cup of tea and a long afternoon ahead of you for a little daydreaming and thinking.
As with most books of poetry I read, particularly if I haven’t read the author’s work before, I looked at the titles first to see which one caught my eye. I quite naturally gravitated towards the poem titled “Cailleach” (especially relevant as she’s very much still wielding her power here in the Maritimes). A small excerpt from that poem:
I am in fact, real.
I am that crawl in the belly,
The eyes watching you at night,
The grandmother who looks, and judges…
And this feeling of being spoken to directly; the sense of immediacy in these lines are present throughout every page of this book. Merrieweather seems to channel the very voice of every being she speaks of, while also being equally present with her own voice and observations.
One of my favourite lines from “The Sixty-Plus Witch”:
Oh, beware the sixty-plus witch.
Indeed! The woman out in plain sight who may look like everyone else, but is so much more than what she seems; who is so utterly comfortable with the witch she is that magic is simply part of their being in the world. I also loved this as it gives me a something to work towards in the next decade as I move towards 60-years-old, myself!
Another small excerpt from yet another new favourite:
The worst animal menace in the world is humanity.
Feral, overbreeding, dangerous, out of control.
So the Four Horsemen ride out once again…
Again, Merrieweather speaks her mind, and as I read, I could feel the deeper undercurrent of magic through each line; the sense of something more and bigger coming through as through each poem were a kind of ritual opening.
For me, books of poetry are not meant to be read only once, because as I grow and change, so do the poems that resonate. Poems that didn’t quite reach me at one stage of my life, described a later stage so perfectly I felt that the piece had been written about me specifically. I think all good poetry does this: shows you yourself, opens you up to new ideas of yourself and the world we all inhabit.
I think this book will be the same: one that I visit again and again and who will become an old friend in time.
Note: I also want to thank Ms. Merrieweather for the personal inscription, and the lovely bookmark! What a delightful surprise!
—review by Mara McTavish
Author: Nisaba Merrieweather
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Pp.: 286, $26.00 CAD
