A crop of non-sequitur poems are in here–you know, the ones whose strengths rest on their ability to punch out humourous, odd and sweet one-liners, back to back to back. When they work, they illuminate mundane situations with perfect light, letting you in on an inside joke. When they fail, the poet becomes the punch line. Twaddle’s a mixed bag in terms of quality, but there are some good ones in here. The less abstract poems shine brighter–like Elyse Friedman’s spare, long poem on being pregnant and trapped in an apartment building during a city-wide blackout, and Sandra Alland’s Flip, where “she said, ‘Love is the cure for colonialism.’ / I laughed heartily, knowing / love had failed at far less lofty ambitions.” Other strengths include a postcard story starring an excitable nun, and Kevin Miller’s On Lunch Duty, The Principal Considers Intelligent Design. (Sarah Pinder)
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