One Foot In
Jeff Pew
About the Author
Jeff Pew is a high school counsellor and creative writing teacher. He is co-editor, and Pushcart Prize nominee, for radiant danse uv being: a poetic portrait of bill bissett (Nightwood Editions, 2006). His poetry and journalism have appeared in various magazines, BC’s Poetry in Transit, and on CBC radio. Jeff lives in Kimberley, BC with Alison. They have two sons, Kalum and Noah. One Foot In is his first collection of poetry.
"Jeff Pew’s poems are full of play, curiosity, wisdom, and pain. He’s a generous poet whose work ranges from the beautifully banal to the bizarrely surreal. You should read him, and read him to your friends on the phone."
—Stuart Ross, author of A Sparrow Came Down Resplendent
ISBN 978-0-9975021-4-5
120 pages
$16.95
5.5" x 8.5" perfect bound, paper
Excerpt
River Lore
I wander through rivers
stumble over rocks
tiptoe between the certainty
of logjams and the grizzly bear
hidden behind the bush.
I fling a thin line into the current
a tiny hook disguised as a fly, moth, beetle
the succulent deception
of its blue-green belly.
I’ve got better things to do
than drag these fish to my knees
cradle them in my palm
twist hooks from pierced lips.
Yet, who can trust the tyranny
of evolution?
Before I return fish to water
I cast a stern stare.
I say, this is a scrap of foam.
This, a dry feather, rejected
by a peacock. Let the hook’s glint
be your beacon. Let it remind you
of the cruelty of pointy things.
I’m teaching you a lesson:
how to become a better fish.
Reviews
"Jeff Pew's wild and ecstatic metaphors burn their star maps, and spark quantum leaps beneath the familiar surfaces of dive bars, a couple's kitchen, and hospital beds. Through wry humor, sly tonal variations, and incisive detail, the accumulated minutia of life shimmers, uncanny. These poems take us for a spin in the babysitter's mustang, and leave us curb-side, our minds blown and hearts broken."
—Stephanie Warner, author of Unlearning the Adorable
"In Jeff Pew’s eulogy for youth, the world is a closely considered, well-worn, best-loved thing. The small and immediate is juxtaposed with the big and global. Reading One Foot In, you’ll have your own conversation with death and the celebration that is life."
—Jane Eaton Hamilton, author of Weekend
jeff pew sz th narrativ uv life is change full uv delishus mooving sew reel n satisying n qwestyuning art life n philosophik concerns that ar immediate n accessibul generous n heeling th blessings uv great langwage n ideas yu will fall in love with ths book
—bill bissett, author of TH BOOK