Snatch.
When I picked up this cool collection of poetry at a local bookstore,
the woman at the till laughed and said, "I wonder how many people
buy this book just for the title." It's a provocative name, but
it was the first poem I read from its small square pages that
got me: "Birdland". It's about the run-down, Surrey, B.C. suburb
where I spent five -- I hate to say it -- formative years of my
childhood on a little street called Loughren Drive. Macinnes'
asphalt and bubblegum world sang right to the Surrey Girl still
inside of me: "Surrey is a swizzle stick. Is drive-ins and teen
pregnancy./ Ditches, slugs, expansion. Surrey is a posthypnotic
suggestion, is cutting classes, Big Macs, and abduction....".
She gives us a greasy Polaroid shot of what Surrey is (and isn't)
in a hilarious word portrait.
This
B.C poet's contemporary "snatches" of teenage weirdness, fucking
in cars, first loves, suburban marriage and all the sticky stuff
in between are pop vignettes that transport. Her love-related
poems sparked my interest the most -- the lusty, amazed sweetness
of "Even Outside", and the intricacy of two lovers who shave each
other in "How do Snake Handlers Fall in Love?" perfectly capture
the poignant confusion and newness of being in love in your 20s.
Most of you will feel more than a little twinkle of recognition
at most of the places Macinnes goes to in this collection. And
even if you never tried to pawn your valuables when you were 14-years-old
so that you'd have enough cash to buy a tube of Bonne Bell Lip
Smacker, you'll definitely recognize the scenery along the way.
