But the sun, and the ships, and the fish, and the waves.

by Conyer Clayton

But the sun, and the ships, and the fish, and the waves, Conyer Clayton's follow-up to her award-winning debut, We Shed Our Skin Like Dynamite, is a collection of prose poems that employs surrealism, humour, and body horror to cope with CPTSD, assault, loss, fear, and the memories of it all. The narrator weaves her way through largely aquatic landscapes-water parks, ponds, beast-filled lakes, vast oceans. She walks through time, reverting to childhood and back within a few lines, has the sureness of knowledge that exists only in dreamscapes, and foreshadows the inevitable with a calm derived from accepting the absurd. These poems, hallucinatory and unexpected, are threaded by repetition: Here is another car accident. Here is another man to flee from. Here is questioned memory. Here is the site of grief, revisited, and sometimes, within it, tentatively, hope. In these poems, Clayton explores how we question the validity of our own memories, especially those related to abuse and assault, and the way we forget-or obsess over potentially forgetting-memories of those who've died. These poems validate dreams, by proxy, and all internal experience as authentic and valid experience that carries wisdom...even when we don't know it.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

Published June 15, 2022

About the author

Conyer Clayton is a queer author from Kentucky. the lake-shaped excuse is their third book.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A riveting collection of dream poems that navigate grief, trauma, climate change, this book goes from absurdity to the macabre at the speed of light. I loved it

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was so fun to read But the sun, and the ships, and the fish and the waves. by Conyer Clayton at the beach. I really enjoyed this poetry book! I really liked the paragraph form of most of the poems. It’s pleasing to the eye to see the blocks of text. My favourite aspect to these poems is the narrator’s relationships. She talks of her sisters, mother, best friend and men. There were a couple poems that made me stop and pause as trauma was discussed in a very stark way but there’s an enjoyable surrealism throughout this book. My fave poems are His body… and The Annual Visit. The Annual Visit is about the narrator and her sisters going to a water park and feels like a dream. I’m so glad I got to read this CanLit poetry book!
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Thank you to Anvil Press for my gifted review copy!

[Dessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conyer Clayton’s latest full-length collection, But the sun, and the ships, and the fish, and the waves, is an expansion of one of her best chapbooks—a slim, baby blue volume chronicling the poet’s dreams titled Trust Only the Beasts in the Water. These dreams become expansive in their new home in this full-length, mapping a surreal landscape that feels unsettling and comforting by turns. Clayton collages these dream details together into something like meaning, something like a riddle, something like an escape room, in what becomes a compelling through-line linking each poem to the next. Dreams, after all, are a kind of serial publication, and so too does each poem in this collection feel like a new episode in a whirling, surreal narrative. What will the next episode bring—danger, or catharsis? Survival, or pain? The answer to the riddle, or only more riddles?

Full review online with Canthius but, surprising no one, I really loved this book.

[K.R. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

But the sun, and the ships, and the fish, and the waves, which I picked up at the author’s launch in Ottawa in June, is a treat. It’s a series of lightly—and sometimes darkly—surreal prose poem vignettes that leave you feeling warmly, uneasily off-kilter.

[Shawna Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

But the sun, and the ships, and the fish, and the waves, Conyer Clayton's follow-up to her award-winning debut, We Shed Our Skin Like Dynamite, is a collection
of prose poems that employs surrealism humour, and body horror to cope with CPTSD, assault, loss, fear, and the memories of it all.

The poems are written in the narrator's relationships. Clayton talks of her sisters, mother, best friend and men. She weaves her way through largely aquatic landscapes, water parks, ponds, beast-filled lakes and vast oceans. The core of these poems come from the insecurities and frustration that comes with trauma and it’s healing journey. Clayton suffers from CPSTD which is complex post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as complex trauma disorder.

The poems are of Claytons dreams. She’d even wake up in the middle of the night to jot down these dreams so they wouldn’t become a lost memory. She dedicates this book “For anyone with dark dreams and questioned memories. I believe you.” This is very brave of Clayton to do this. Dreams can be so weird and dark. I commend her on doing this for herself because we can enjoy her thoughts as well in these poems.

This book provides you with the words in which Clayton experienced in her dreams and all you need to do is sit back and let this adventure run wild in your mind. I recommend reading this book outside in a relaxing environment. And definitely recommend re-reading some of the poems twice. Thank you for sharing your dreams.

[Penn Kemp · Rating 4 out of 5]

“…She weeps quietly behind a bush.
Where does all that salt go? Forget about me,
fox. We’re both shuffling sideways on this
golden shaft of light. My boot heels nuzzle into
snow. Shame is a feather duster in constant
motion, a small tail clearing the path.”
“Encounter”

These urgent poems pan across a cinematic kaleidoscope of grief and joy.
A gorgeous collection of surreal poetry, not surprisingly published by Stuart Ross's imprint, Feed Dog Books, from Anvil Press.

[Meli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very dynamic read!!! Loved how the author engaged with the overlap of memory and dreams. Lots in here that rings true to the experience of surviving trauma, with enough beauty and absurdity to carry the reader through safely, regardless of where they’re coming from. I don’t think I’ve read another poetry book quite like this one before.

[Kristi Fuoco · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous and powerful book of poetry that weaves in and out of reality but is grounded in haunting and memorable imagery and real, traumatic experiences. So many phrases will linger in my mind.

[mike f. · Rating 5 out of 5]

SEX

[Mahaila Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Her fur will change to match the landscape she envisions."

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful, personal collection of prose poems that find the poet wrestling with assault, bodily autonomy, fear, loss, and trauma through surreal dreams and rich images, many of water (hence, the title), many of distorted, fractured memories. A strong follow-up to her earlier collection We Shed Our Skin Like Dynamite. Highly recommended.