A poetic masterclass from a writer at the height of his craft Kenneth
Sherman's work has always displayed a vibrant lyricism, so it's no
surprise that his powerful new collection contains a number of poems
with musical motifs. In such pieces as "Clarinet," "Transistor Sister,"
and the book's titular poem, Sherman ponders our human transience while
searching for "a voice to stand time's test." Sherman also confronts
health concerns in a language that is Shaker-plain. The book concludes
with the sombre, compassionate, and truly remarkable seven-part
"Kingdom," a meditation on the plight of the dispossessed. In a Globe
and Mail review of The Well: New and Selected Poems, Fraser Sutherland
notes, "Sherman always seems to be listening to the voice of Canadian
soil and landscape at the same time as he is attentive to the great
European metaphysical theme of the soul in conflict with the world and
time." So it is with Jogging with the Great Ray Charles. Sherman has
also included three brilliant translations of Yiddish poets that
appeared in the Malahat Review's "At Home in Translation" issue.