Box Kite

by Kim Maltman, Roo Borson

"A piece of paper with writing on it is flat, but when what is written on that paper fills the mind of a reader, it takes off into the wind like a box kite on a windy day," writes Baziju ― the shared voice of poets Roo Borson and Kim Maltman. This exquisite, collaboratively written sequence of prose poems, unfolding through rich, delicate imagery, journeys through streets and gardens, houses and temples, cities and countryside, Canada and China. It is a meditation on the way we travel between places and between times, and how words and ideas travel between languages. Baziju explores the literature of China, from centuries past to the present, exploring, at the same time, the meaning of hope and of childhood homes, the homes we grow into, and the homes in our minds. In Lu Xun's classic story "My Old Home," the hero returns from a distant city to the home he left two decades earlier. Hope, he ponders, "is just like the roads of the earth… . [T]o begin with the earth has no roads, but where many people pass, there a road is made." These sensual, deeply personal prose poems ponder change, loss, friendship, and belonging. In a life in which every detail has significance, the smallest observation grows, and spreads like the branches of wisteria.

Genres: Poetry

168 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2016

About the author

Kim Maltman (born 1951) is a Canadian poet and physicist who lives in Toronto. He is a professor of Applied Mathematics at York University and pursues research in theoretical nuclear/particle physics.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do wonder the difference between prose, and prose poems. I have looked up definitions. When I write poetry, there is often an insight about myself or life that I am writing around, and these prose poems feel like that. There are observations of people, sights and landscapes in China and Canada, along with quotes from Chinese literature and thoughts about historic authors. I enjoyed very much getting to travel with the author and see different sights, and insights about life.