come at nine come at nine

First published in Woodnotes #22, Autumn 1994, page 40.       +

come at nine come at nine by anne mckay. Wind Chimes Press, Vienna, Maryland, 1993, 76 pages, paperback, 7 by 4 inches. $6.00 postpaid from the author at Studio B, 1506 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5L 2Y9 [address no longer correct]. This new book by anne mckay is one of dedication and dedications. She continues to commit herself to her voice, one that surely comes naturally. As such, some of her idea-poems and original abstractions are not haiku, but oh, what style they are irresistible! This is also a book of dedications, with each of the 78 poems (appearing mostly one per page) written for a named recipient-usually fellow poets, friends, and family, plus artists and writers who (we may assume) have had an influence on or connection to anne mckay and her poetics. I am particularly grateful to have poem written for me, a verse that reminds me of a folded red-and-white flag verse I wrote in a renga with anne. This is a book with words best seen, held, and felt. It is a gift, a return of blessing and youthful joy, a “coming at nine” when everyone is younger:

come at nine come at nine i’m younger at nine bring a candle

for tennessee williams