Brilliant Falls
Gaspereau Press
ISBN 978-1-55447-123-2
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Born from between the pages of other writings, unexpectedly, flying in under the radar past the poet’s defences, these are the poems that wouldn’t hear “no” for an answer. Brilliant Falls is front-loaded with the stuff of everyday life: racing the Queen of England in a second-hand van, a close call with Sitting Bull on a Saskatchewan highway, playing saxophone in heaven and watching a friend hand-dig a grave. Terpstra offers up poetic fare that on the surface may appear light but on closer examination runs the gamut from wry humour to a preoccupation with death. The poet’s rigorous self-reflection and urgent need to express difficult and complicated emotion characterizes this collection and allows the reader to experience at close range poetry that tugs at our very core.
George Elliott Clarke (The Chronicle Herald, June 15, 2013) “Terpstra’s clarity is reverential, closer to magisterial dignity than it is to folksy tent show. Yet, he is wonderfully plain, with a style that recalls both homespun, whimsical Alden Nowlan (1933-83) and the shock effects of Irving Layton (1912-2006).”
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Adele Gallogly (The Banner, May 22, 2014) “These are poems of wonder, bewilderment, bereavement, and amusement. […] This is a collection for anyone seeking to celebrate the sacred edges of everyday life, written by a master poet.”
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