The Interview Rose

The grass with little daisies in it springs

as if springs are under my feet. I poke

the ferrule of my umbrella in it, as if

I need a prop for steadiness and yet

it is a pretence: waterlogged or not

something like joy is running underneath.

In her twentieth poetry collection, Elizabeth Smither brings together a new ensemble of surprising images and charismatic companions. A herd of cows gathers around a radio to listen wide-eyed to a Mozart concerto. A frog leads us unhurriedly down the garden path. Jane Austen’s Emma makes an appearance. A cat critiques Wittgenstein. And a flamboyant fabric rose rescues a job interview.

Each poem in The Interview Rose is a bridge between the private self and the physical world, travelling the long route through art, religion, philosophy, and the pleasures of language.