This Orchard Sound
John Terpstra
September 2014
36 pages | ISBN 978-1-894987-92-9
In This Orchard Sound, poet and woodworker John Terpstra takes the reader to an abandoned fruit orchard as it being bulldozed. From the twisted limbs of apple, pear and plum trees to cars dripping fluids far removed from the rain that once fell on the orchard grass, Terpstra asks questions of progress, grace and the complicity of humanity in this short suite of poems. Only the birds answer his questions as he paces the old orchard, armed with his saw, gathering wood for his latest commission. A new cross for a local congregation.
Articles
"Most Anticipated: Our Fall 2014 Poetry Preview" (Kerry Clare, 49th Shelf, 18/08/2014)
Kerry Clare lists This Orchard Sound as one of their most anticipated poetry books of fall 2014.
About the Author
John Terpstra is the author of ten books of poetry and four books of non-fiction. He often plays in that zone where human beings interact with nature – nature in the city, not the country. The nature he gravitates toward is one that has some experience of us, has had to live with us and our demands, and is no longer pure or whole or perfect, but still somehow manages to be itself – maybe even more than when it was "wild." He is interested in how the natural geography and built geography integrate and relate to each other, in how history is simultaneous with now. Daylighting Chedoke is a companion book to the two earlier books about Hamilton as a living, breathing geographical location, Falling into Place and The House with the Parapet Wall. He lives in Hamilton, ON.
Other Titles by this Author
Daylighting Chedoke: Exploring Hamilton's Hidden Creek (2018)
Naked Trees (2012)
