What We’re Reading: Trace

Trace by Eric Pankey (Milkweed Editions, 2013)

Trace is a contemplative and restless book of poems that gives the reader an honest glimpse of the poet’s struggle to reconcile with his faith, memory, and depression. There is an element of the unknown, or the uncertain, that haunts the poems in this collection. Memories are questioned, words are lost, faith is broken down. What makes this work is Pankey’s ability to tether us in this mutable world with his lyrically precise and thoughtful form and word choice. An English professor at George Mason University, this is Pankey’s ninth published book of poems.

One of Pankey’s talents is turning the end of a line or poem from a simple moment into a profound one, such as in this closing excerpt from “Edge of Things”:

The slippages of shadow silting in,
The interchange of dusk to duskier,
The half-dark turning half-again as dark.

There: night enough to call it a good night.

I wait for the resurrection, but wake to morning:
Mist lifting off the river.
Ladders in the orchard trees although the picking’s done.

He pulls us along through the mist of his pondering until he decides to clear the scene and reveal his purpose. It’s a beautiful moment, and there are many of these unveilings throughout his work.

There is that age old debate of whether it is better to read a writer’s work without any context about their life and intended messages, or to immerse yourself in context. I personally prefer the full picture, if I can afford the time. I read the work itself first, and chew that over, but then love reading interviews, watching videos, and checking out the author’s bio/website/blog, if they have it. Luckily for me, there is plenty of context in which to immerse myself into Pankey’s work and motivations: this interview and this guest blog post on the Milkweed website, and a gorgeous Motionpoem of one of the poems included in the book, “Cogitatio Mortis.”

Through these various contextual entry points, Pankey reveals a humble sense of ambiguity. I believe true wisdom is found in questioning the status quo, and Pankey’s search thrums with this modest wisdom. As he says in his interview, “I see poems as speculative spaces and, in such a place, I find myself free to be full of questions, full of doubt. The doubt, I hope, is part of the way toward faith.”

His faith is constantly in the forefront of these poems. In his interview, Pankey says “I always imagined that one day my faith would be solid and certain, a kind of bedrock upon which one might build a sturdy foundation. But an “ebb and flow” has been my experience of faith,” and later, “One does not believe or have faith, but one is on a faith journey.” This is the most evident thematic thread trying this collection to it’s overall voice. This spiritual journey is further underlined by the journey through this collection of poems itself that the reader takes with Pankey.

What other poets find wisdom through questions, rather than answers? Is there another writer who struggles with spirituality in their work?