Dance of Light

Dance of Light by Elizabeth St Jacques. Maplebud Press, 1995, 124 pages, paperback, 5½ by 8½ inches. $15.00 postpaid from the author at 406 Elizabeth Street, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada P6B 3H4 [address no longer correct]. As Christopher Herold stresses in the introduction, “St Jacques’ writing style is distinguished by exuberance.” You are invited to join just such a vibrant dance in the book’s three sections: spring and summer poems, 13 sequences, then autumn and winter poems. Enough fine poems make this book worthwhile. As a sample, consider the sparrow poems that start and finish the book:

break of dawn . . .

sparrow at the small puddle

sipping pale pink light

first day of the year

letting down light snow

the flutter of small wings