Jacob Alvarado

Dale Martin Smith, Blur.

Toronto: Knife | Fork | Book, 2022. $12.00.

Using playful imagery and surprising contrasts to explore life’s simple occurrences, Blur is a light, yet satisfying morsel of poetry from Dale Martin Smith that demonstrates how the shortest of poems can often leave the most lasting impressions. Whether ruminating on the changing seasons (“morning blurs to after / noon rain on wet yellow leaves. / Almost there are flakes of snow”), a daily routine (“The day’s back and forth / of obligation, spaced-out daydream“), or a favourite daydream (“The bread they called ‘seeds and twigs’ / and wine on a beach, the two us / naked”), Blur evokes a sense of coziness and intimacy that offers comfort while still provoking thought, transporting readers into a place of contemplation and reverence for events as simple as a rainy day spent indoors. Transforming the mundane into deeper meditations on the marvelousness of everyday life, Smith’s poems will also transform readers into people more appreciative of the world that surrounds them. In Smith’s own words: “To see with full appetite. / The rain begins again. / Loops or a series of sensations. / We live in circles.“

JACOB ALVARADO

is the editorial intern for The Ampersand Review of Writing & Publishing and a 4th-year student in the Creative Writing & Publishing program at Sheridan College. He lives and writes in Orangeville, Ontario.