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On High |
eBook Available
Poems on the hunt for something to believe in.
All songs have skin, / all skin has holes.
On High, Neil Surkan's debut collection of poetry, searches for spirits in myriad places. Wondering how, why, and when to act with a conscience, speakers try out steep hikes, strong drugs, and earnest meditations as they attempt to make meaning in a divided and distracting world.
Careful and tense, On High balances on all kinds of tightrope-like lines: a trout fisher revels after riding a moose, a buzzed lover speculates about human connection, new condo owners toast from balcony to balcony, a young woman kicks a hornet's nest into her hometown library's erotica/poetry/religion section.
Reaching for the sprigs of our shared humanity, Surkan's poems offer courage and compassion in violent times. As the speaker in "The Branch Breaker" muses, "sarcasm won't dissolve our enemies." On High is a book for the contemporary moment.
On High, Neil Surkan's debut collection of poetry, searches for spirits in myriad places. Wondering how, why, and when to act with a conscience, speakers try out steep hikes, strong drugs, and earnest meditations as they attempt to make meaning in a divided and distracting world.
Careful and tense, On High balances on all kinds of tightrope-like lines: a trout fisher revels after riding a moose, a buzzed lover speculates about human connection, new condo owners toast from balcony to balcony, a young woman kicks a hornet's nest into her hometown library's erotica/poetry/religion section.
Reaching for the sprigs of our shared humanity, Surkan's poems offer courage and compassion in violent times. As the speaker in "The Branch Breaker" muses, "sarcasm won't dissolve our enemies." On High is a book for the contemporary moment.
Details
Part of the Hugh MacLennan Poetry Series (number 43 in series)
120 Pages, 5 x 7.5
ISBN 9780773554993
September 2018
Formats: Paperback, eBook
“On High is at once meticulous and defiant. Neil Surkan orders the world and then trashes those hermeneutics, championing all that is fierce yet “pinned to the earth.” The poet’s voice is textured, lively, wry as each poem frankly offers “a wall of open doors” for us to bravely walk through.” Adèle Barclay, author of If I Were in a Cage I'd Reach Out for You
“These poems ping between two poles: that of the taut, directed, chimed, intensity of Richard Hugo, and the Seamus Heaney-like precision of a measured, landscape-rooted vocabulary. On High makes a deadly serious grab at trying to say something about what it is to live on a corner of the earth right now and yet it does not lose its playfulness, encouraging us to “…think less/ of your destination, more on where/ you’re bound to go.” Shane Book, author of Congotronic
“Ascendant, and full of unpredictable associations, On High is a master class in metaphorical thought. Think Scorsese’s jump cuts, as Neil Surkan “layer[s] [his] voice with loop pedals” to create a carefully-spliced collage of images and sounds. A technically accomplished, far-reaching debut.” Jim Johnstone, editor of The Next Wave: An Anthology of 21st Century Canadian Poetry
“At turns witty, sarcastic, and blunt, On High contains stark observations from a speaker who loves humanity but recognises that ‘shame runs deeper than love.’ Surkan’s speaker desires to observe interactions truthfully, though does so with an eye toward compassion and self-improvement, and through this mindset, asks readers to reconsider their own behaviours in the context of community.” River Volta Review
"Surkan's On High is a patient study of the moral dimensions of 'observation.' The strength of On High ... [is] in its ability to represent the tensioned moment when an observation snaps open and asks the observer to think or act conscientiously." Canadian Literature
“These poems ping between two poles: that of the taut, directed, chimed, intensity of Richard Hugo, and the Seamus Heaney-like precision of a measured, landscape-rooted vocabulary. On High makes a deadly serious grab at trying to say something about what it is to live on a corner of the earth right now and yet it does not lose its playfulness, encouraging us to “…think less/ of your destination, more on where/ you’re bound to go.” Shane Book, author of Congotronic
“Ascendant, and full of unpredictable associations, On High is a master class in metaphorical thought. Think Scorsese’s jump cuts, as Neil Surkan “layer[s] [his] voice with loop pedals” to create a carefully-spliced collage of images and sounds. A technically accomplished, far-reaching debut.” Jim Johnstone, editor of The Next Wave: An Anthology of 21st Century Canadian Poetry
“At turns witty, sarcastic, and blunt, On High contains stark observations from a speaker who loves humanity but recognises that ‘shame runs deeper than love.’ Surkan’s speaker desires to observe interactions truthfully, though does so with an eye toward compassion and self-improvement, and through this mindset, asks readers to reconsider their own behaviours in the context of community.” River Volta Review
"Surkan's On High is a patient study of the moral dimensions of 'observation.' The strength of On High ... [is] in its ability to represent the tensioned moment when an observation snaps open and asks the observer to think or act conscientiously." Canadian Literature
Neil Surkan has published poems in numerous Canadian magazines and is the author of the chapbook Super, Natural. He lives in Calgary.
I
Directive / 3
The Branch-Breaker / 4
Bleed / 6
The Opening of the Field / 7
Laughter = Ipecac / 8
Development / 10
The Humans / 12
Aunts / 13
Goat / 14
Scorsese Teaches His Kid to Crosshatch / 15
Under the Skin / 17
Ars Poetica / 18
Flash / 19
Saltspring Ferry / 20
On High / 21
II
Pelt / 25
There Was Light / 26
Half-Pastoral / 27
Other Side of the Orchard / 28
Brute / 29
Rock Garden / 30
Cold Pastoral / 31
In Plain Sight / 32
Micro-Gothic / 33
Low Tidings / 34
The Bottom of the Sea / 35
Resolution / 36
Very Rare / 37
Extra-Real / 38
Bucolic / 39
Cone, Twig, Camel / 40
III
Pre-Election / 43
The Opposite / 45
Here Comes Some Beauty / 48
Day Off / 49
Vesper / 50
Give / 52
No Charge / 53
Teardown / 54
Opportunistic Mystic / 56
Concentrate / 57
White on White / 58
Snap / 59
Better to Die of Too Much / 60
Super, Natural / 62
Franciscana, Santa Teresita / 63
Blast Radius / 64
Apology / 73
No Chaser / 76
IV
More Truly and More Strange / 79
Decreation / 80
Never Changes to Stop / 81
Fawn / 82
Unforgetting / 83
Deism, Penticton / 84
On Comfort / 85
The Most Intimate / 86
Washington / 87
Verges, Now and Forever / 88
On High (II) / 99
Notes / 101
Acknowledgments / 103
Directive / 3
The Branch-Breaker / 4
Bleed / 6
The Opening of the Field / 7
Laughter = Ipecac / 8
Development / 10
The Humans / 12
Aunts / 13
Goat / 14
Scorsese Teaches His Kid to Crosshatch / 15
Under the Skin / 17
Ars Poetica / 18
Flash / 19
Saltspring Ferry / 20
On High / 21
II
Pelt / 25
There Was Light / 26
Half-Pastoral / 27
Other Side of the Orchard / 28
Brute / 29
Rock Garden / 30
Cold Pastoral / 31
In Plain Sight / 32
Micro-Gothic / 33
Low Tidings / 34
The Bottom of the Sea / 35
Resolution / 36
Very Rare / 37
Extra-Real / 38
Bucolic / 39
Cone, Twig, Camel / 40
III
Pre-Election / 43
The Opposite / 45
Here Comes Some Beauty / 48
Day Off / 49
Vesper / 50
Give / 52
No Charge / 53
Teardown / 54
Opportunistic Mystic / 56
Concentrate / 57
White on White / 58
Snap / 59
Better to Die of Too Much / 60
Super, Natural / 62
Franciscana, Santa Teresita / 63
Blast Radius / 64
Apology / 73
No Chaser / 76
IV
More Truly and More Strange / 79
Decreation / 80
Never Changes to Stop / 81
Fawn / 82
Unforgetting / 83
Deism, Penticton / 84
On Comfort / 85
The Most Intimate / 86
Washington / 87
Verges, Now and Forever / 88
On High (II) / 99
Notes / 101
Acknowledgments / 103
