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Sea Change, Jorie Graham, 2008, Carcanet. £9.95 ISBN 978-1-8575498-4-3

 
Warning. As a pre-requisite to approaching these poems the reader should arm his or herself with a certain apprehension, for this is to enter a world where the unimaginable does not simply move into the realms of possibility but into the actuality of the here and now – a world in which life as we know it is no longer sustainable. Yet Sea Change is not simply a politico/eco polemic, Graham does not bludgeon the reader, but neither does it allow one to merely extract from it thoughts which resonate upon a personal level. Rather, it is a work of constant surprise, one which gains a universality through its demand that the reader engages with it solely upon its own terms. 

This is not easy. Graham’s mind moves with surety between concepts, between inner and outer conflicts, never hesitant, never pausing, not even to ensure that the reader is making the connections. Speed is of the essence: death is swift. This is a writer approaching her maturity, unflinching in her reflection of the past, tabulating the future, both personal and planetary, not with a Cassandra-vision but one extrapolated from observation of the elements surrounding her: 

   from the cadaver beginning to show through the skin of the day. The future without
                                                   days. Without days of it? 
                                                    in it? I try to – just for a second –feel
   that shape.

                                                                                      Day Off 

“That shape” is our responsibility. “That shape” is one of chaos, war and climate change. “That shape” is the shape of our legacy to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We know it but, like all uncomfortable realities, we would prefer to ignore it. In confronting us with such subject matter in a form which is never conventional, Graham has adopted an uncompromising stance and in so doing has imposed upon herself a seemingly impossible task – the maintenance of the reader’s attention. So what merits the effort necessary to engage with this collection? 

It is her supreme mastery of prosody, her lyrical voice, and the kingfisher-flash of her thought-processes which fuse disparate elements, propelling one towards new understandings. Within a few brief lines Graham can transpose us from a workman hoisting a joist to

                             …& what
is the structure of freedom but this, & grace, & the politics of time – look south, look
                               north – yes – east west compile hope synthesize
exceed look look again hold fast attach speculate drift drift recognize forget – terrible
                                gush – gash – of
                                 form of
outwardness, & it is your right to be so entertained…

                                                                                  Later In Life

Almost Beckettian, reminiscent of Winnie in Happy Days, but with such urgency of tone, such compression of each moment that the poet, of necessity, substitutes ampersands and cannot waste a precious nano-second to insert relevant commas. Restoration of conventional punctuation, after the somewhat provocative “it is your right to be entertained”, indicates a change of pace, a space in which to attempt to assimilate the idea and emotions one has encountered. 

Graham’s usage of line breaks supports her taut thought-structure, reflects the immediacy yet hesitancy of one who has forged, is still forging, a philosophy to enable her to approach the next decades of both her own life and that of earth’s. Deconstruct the above quotation, note how “look” ends the line, breaking the sense but by its very position urging upon the reader precisely that action. For the poet to look is paramount.   “Look” is placed at the end of a long line which contains possible abstractions “the structure of freedom”, “the politics of time” yet that four letter word roots both of these concepts before dropping faultlessly down to “north” and the “– yes –”. One can almost hear the exclamation mark but Graham has no time for such interjections as her thoughts spawn, encapsulating the entire compass, both geographical and emotional. There follows a series of commands with “synthesize” “synthesize” breaking the shorter line but to synthesize needs time and the only time available is that allocated by a line break. Hence, by such placement, Graham has once again made the reader aware of lack of time. This is reinforced by the flurry of commands on the following, much longer line to “exceed … recognize” and ultimately “forget”. Such a rush of thought breaks the line on “terrible” which serves both to enhance the predicament of the planet as well as smoothly making the transition to “gush – gash-of / form of / outwardness…”

Sea Change is a work which begins at an irrevocable point in the poet’s and planet’s life. Slipping easily between the two it propels the reader to recognise

   …you know
                               you have no destiny… 

                               …………that you have
no rightful way

                               to live­
 
                                                                       'Nearing Dawn'