Forage

by Rita Wong

Winner of the 2008 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize
Rita Wong's new collection of poems explores how ecological crises relate to the injustices of our international political landscape. Querying the relations between writing and other forms of action, Wong seeks a shift in consciousness through poems that bespeak a range of responses to our world: anger, protest, anxiety, bewilderment, hope and love. In her words, "the next shift may be the biggest one yet, the union of the living, from mosquito to manatee to mom."
"Forage" is accompanied by marginalia, Chinese characters and photos that give depth to the political context in which most of Wong's poems are situated. She is instructive without being pedantic, and thought-provoking while still calling forth humour and beauty.

Genres: Poetry, Canada

88 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2007

About the author

Rita Wong is the author of four books of poetry: monkeypuzzle (Press Gang, 1998), forage (Nightwood Editions, 2007), sybil unrest (Line Books, 2008, with Larissa Lai) and undercurrent (Nightwood Editions, 2015). forage was the winner of the 2008 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and Canada Reads Poetry 2011.

Wong is an associate professor in the Critical and Cultural Studies department at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design on the unceded Coast Salish territories also known as Vancouver.

Reviews

[e · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I describe this poetry collection as anti-colonial manifesto? Published 14 years ago, but still relevant as ever. What most want to ignore, Rita draws attention to in significant ways, singing and shouting against the colonial-capitalist economies of scarcity, fear, and violence on the land and its people. When people describe poetry as urgency, they are talking about books like these.

the meds are administered on time every night. if reading can save even one life. one loose woman somewhere in the bowels of the obscene "correctional centre." who criminalized survival? the life you steal might be your own.
-from "vessels" (54)

[M.W.P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

chemical history narcopolemics
attempted genocide call it crack war
alcohol white powder suffocates
shades of deep brown earth red desert
yellow skin dependency myths who
needs the high of trying to kill the other?
racist gaze tingles on my skin induced
economic muscle flexes to displace
millions rifles fire behind the dollar
signs & still the underground pulses
suffering blue veins seek the
transformative heart as ordnance drops
on embassies & arteries cry for kin

- opium, pg. 13

* * *

nine seeds nursed in the midst of war
sprout of life
older than me, older than tv
small green cheers, bite of sunlight,
windsalt, rainsweep, lakewise, leafcries
what the tongue & jaw know:
some minerals can't be bought or pilled
reminders of hidden hunger
what nitrogen can't fix

- after "I sing of Lienta" by Cheng Min, pg. 28

* * *

pyre in pirate bio in bile
mono in poly breeder in
womb pull of landrace allo
me poietic auto me diverse
trans over genic harassment
over seas genetic as pathetic
as engine of disease socio
me catastrophe political and
eugenic organ as an ism
general as the mono startle
of a soma ethic under
trodden patent as in lies
hubris as in corporate
coalition as in american
military as a choking tentacle
as pollution erodes these lines
no sense in food or rhyme
resistant as in herbicide or
people lost and found field a
factory dinner a roulette
conquest as in seeds hands as in fist

- chaos feary, pg. 37

* * *

intermittent insistence sinister complicity stillborn mister minister toxic tinctures stinking pistols stricken cysts or cynical sisters strychnine biscuits kiss of desist lore please pucker up and miss or responsible for which mess your dissatisfaction resists bores or responsible for which mess your dissatisfaction resists bores goriness consists of not cleaning up your mess for centuries nor paying your debts to those you'e made poor with your thefts sir

- trickledown infect, pg. 48

* * *

if these cells ever absorb the warmth of an Indian autumn: perambulatory witness to neo-colonial streets in saltwater city, Aboriginal Columbia, this year of increasing immune system disintegration

a pulmonary commons called planet

a breath that met another in the commotion of nouns, gerunds, subordinate clauses cluttering the historical air: whoo-oosh! ping!

urban smog doesn't obscure empire smash, just clings to its paraphernalia, obdurate rem(a)inder

dene becomes need if you throw off regulation, peregrinatory realignments incant

holy need chirps on these wintry pages, migratory passages looking to make "generosity of method" homing pigeons to carry unrelenting songs

- p a r e n t (h) e t (h) i c a l b r e a t h, from & for RK, pg. 55

* * *

a big bratwurst for my sister she likes them
meaty these days omnivorous sibling
spelunking and kneeling rapt and
unwrapped fried and untried nude and
disguised smooth and surprised
two eggs on the side an omelette
she cried more sauce for the ride
and hotter next time

- easy peasy, pg. 69

* * *

i don't follow & i don't lead. i was
never meant to dance in that strictly
defined way. body bobs upstarts its
own rhythms & upsets, small storms a
daily occurrence. yet somehow we
danced as though we could meet &
breathe the same air. your hand, my
back, like butter on bread, we were
morning familiar the moment we
met. click. in your presence i dance
on tabletops. click. can't follow you,
never could, you are like an
amputated arm, still feel you
presence long after your removal.
can't' bandage this up. you instigate
the storms that move me along still.

- aftermap, pg. 76

[S P · Rating 4 out of 5]

nervous organism
20 'jellyfish potato/jellypo fishtato/ glow in the pork toys/ nab your crisco while it's genetically cloudy boys/ science lab in my esophagus/ what big beakers you have sir/ all the better to mutate you with my po monster/ po little jelly-kneed demonstrator/ throws flounder- crossed tomatoes / hafta nasty nafta through mexico, california, oregon, washington, canada/ hothoused experiment nestled beside basketballs of lettuce, avocado bullets/ industrial food defeats nutrition/ immune systems attrition/ soil vampires call/ shiny aisles all touch and no contact/jellypish for tato smack/ your science experiment snack yields slugfish arteries brain murmurs tumour precipitation whack'

open the brutal
35 ‘your coast in my
marine. my still eye in your hurried
claim. rupture abundance. loosen the
literal to littoral. slippage is better than
nothing, squirrel running across the
grass, a living question mark bounces
black & feisty before my eyes. Keep
moving like that squirrel, faster than the
guard dog chasing it. change the shape
of the slot slide it somewhere looser.
your teeth a serif that hooks my ear.
loose hair flutters debris in the night.
lyric is not rule but desire’s lock.
signpost the revolution. your body’s
alphabet encrypts the message. rising,
sigh the silent letter that alters the
sound around it. flesh holds fine blue
lines hiding just below skin, a small
wrinkle drafts years of battles &
bedrooms into its fold. drafts me
into your likely fire’

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.

The best word to describe this collection is ‘forceful’: the writing in the margins and the ‘odd’ word choices compel the reader to pause and reflect on each poem’s content. Wong isn’t trying to raise questions through her poetry — instead she is reflecting on issues she is concerned about and makes it unequivocal where she stands on each.

While thematically cohesive, this collection is all over the place narratively. This didn’t bother me, I could see it being a bit grating for others.

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was forced to read this and it was incredibly jarring to me how it read like a rant on a blog. Everything is so bluntly straightforward, but not in any profound way whatsoever. Its only artistic merit comes from aligning itself with certain political views and feigning something deep with its abstract structure. Time is the ultimate judge, and it does not remember virtue signalling poetry built from a desire for destructive wrath, but true poetry which stems from the depths of the genuine soul to revitalize the common consciousness.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forage is my first experience with Rita Wong, but I don't intend for it to be my last. She has an incredible gift for wordplay, offering up unexpected and profound turns of phrase as she criticizes the politics that have led to our current environmental crisis. I didn't connect with every poem here, but there was a lot that I found irresistable.

Recommended. I look forward to reading more from her.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

passionate poetry
I love how Rita included quotes from articles or people who inspired her poems. It helped to provide context allow the reader to clearly go with her. Also any book that adds more books to my "to read list" is a good one in my mind.

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fine work. Actually breathtaking at times.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5.

It's interesting! Ecopoetry mixed with Chinese-Canadian identity, alongside anti-colonialism. Could get repetitive or vague/confusing at times. Can be very experimental or abstract.

[Esmé · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I liked this better than her newer collection Undercurrent, since it is a little more personal in how it discusses the big issues

[Larissa Trafananko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not big into poetry, and I was supposed to read this book for my English class. However, I found it very intriguing. She added quotes and facts to support all her writing making the poems that much more real. A good read.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.monniblog.com/2008/07/forage/