Weathervane - Mark Sampson (Palimpsest Press)

Today's book of poetry:
Weathervane.  Mark Sampson.  Palimpsest Press.  Windsor, Ontario.  2016.

  

Weathervane is a dipping of the proverbial toes into the cosmos.  Mark Sampson writes from a contemplative and amused perch.  These poems are trump cards from a honest poker player with a dead-pan draw.

Choosing A Mattress

is about more than just the selfishness of sleep,

that blessed oblivion

resting between today's

half-failure and tomorrow's vague promise

Consider your future lovers

Choose a mattress wide enough

to accommodate their desire for you

and one soft enough

for the afterplay of all your gentle words

You must also make your pick

with lovelessness in mind--

a mattress broad enough to give room to wars,

to withstand fifty years

of loneliness

When choosing a mattress

pick one worthy of the children

you will conceive on it

This will be their launching pad

This will be where they judge you

Pick one equal to your anxieties,

the unnamed worries

that loop around endlessly,

like a ceiling fan

A mattress must be able to hold

the regrets that keep you from sleep

the wrongs you have done to others

and yourself

These are your true weight

A mattress must be forgiving

but firm enough to bear it

...

Today's book of poetry's morning read was full of charm and humour ala Mark Sampson.  Milo, our head tech, has taken on my proclivity for list poems and turned Mr. Sampson's "We Took The City"

into a considerable poetry monster.  That poem took over our reckless insides as Milo marched it around the room and out into the universe.

We Took The City

We took the city

We took it like barbarians

We took its high-rise hammocked balconies

and Swing Slow Sleep Aid colonies

We took its slamming doors,

Its elevators' metronomic forages

We took its whores

We took its rules to heart

             No gambling

             No littering

             No loud sex after 10. (Quiet sex is fine)

We took its pain clinics

and its chartered accountants

We took its dentists' chairs and its cynics

We took its citadel

We took its harbour islands

We took it dancing

We took it seriously

We took it straight

We took it on the rocks

We took a cheap shot

We took a glance over the cubicle wall

at the summer's badgering sun through the window

We took a life we didn't want

We took a cold, hard look at ourselves

We took a bus downtown

We took a mortgage uptown

We took a breath

We took another breath

We took a chance

We took a phone call

We took a date

We took a second date

We took a walk

We took a hike

We took a swim

We took a dinner on the quay

We took your mother to palliative care

We took what the city had to offer

and what it didn't

We took ourselves too lightly

We took a hit

We took a loss

We took a punch

We took it all in stride

We took each other where we needed to go.

...

Today's book of poetry apologizes to Mark Sampson for our truncated coverage of Weathervane.  We wanted to get Weathervane out there because as much as we enjoyed reading it - and we did - we have a higher offering of praise.  K, Today's book of poetry's almost perfect and long suffering better-half, made a point of telling us how much she liked Weathervane.  K is a tough nut to crack and does not give poetry praise easily or often.  She made a point of telling me in no uncertain terms how smart she thought Sampson's poems were.

There is no doubt about who is the sharpest tack in the Today's book of poetry household and when K likes poems we listen.

Blue Fog

The rain makes generous donations

in the scooter women's hats.

This neighbourhood has had sirens

every night for forty nights

and the gulls bob and weave above

the crimson fire trucks pooling

like blood in the grim cavities

of St. James Town. This April's

fog is thick, a lavender tongue lolling

in a strangled throat.

Last year, a prostitute offered

to sell me a shopping bag full of batteries.

This year, she threw herself off her Bleeker St. balcony

while her daughter practiced the cello.

...

Not sure if P.E.I. native Mark Sampson will want to know this curious detail about Today's book of poetry.  We apprenticed at Wizard Business Products in Charlottetown.  At the time our mailing address was ______ _______, Guarding the Stanhope/Grand Tracadie Border, P.E.I.

But everyone always thought of us as come from away.

Today's book of poetry loved living close to the ocean and loved the poetry.  We felt right at home with this marvelous first collection of poetry.  Like we feel at home listening to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds sing "Mermaids."  

Mark Sampson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Sampson is the author of the novels Off Book and Sad Peninsula, as well as the short story collection The Secrets Men Keep. His fiction, poetry and reviews have appeared in many journals across Canada, including The New Quarterly, The Antigonish Review, PRISM international, This magazine, QWERTY and FreeFall. Palimpsest Press released Weathervane in 2016. Originally from Prince Edward Island, he now lives and writes in Toronto.

BLURBS

“A taut, confident debut from an already accomplished author.” 

     — Jonathan Ball, Winnipeg Free Press

“Sampson has the ability…to wax profanely about things we would all take for granted or overlook. He notes thoughts we all consider yet we never speak aloud. And he points out what we consider mundane and makes us ask why we think that.” 

     — Steven Buechler, The Library of Pacific Tranquility

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