Review
STELE OF SEVERAL LADIES
by Stuart Ian McKay
Passwords Enterprises, 60 pp.
Stele of Several Ladies, Stuart Ian McKay’s first book of poems, is a brave attempt that falls short of being sagacious. The problem with this chronicle of Calgary history is its one-sided narrative – McKay does not stray from the official historical canon and so he ends up weaving a tale of colonizers, instead of including an array of diverse voices.
Poems such as "The Frenetic Museum," and "Museum Scene One" through "Museum Scene Five," are loaded with information, to the point where they come close to being essays or history lectures instead. McKay blends specific images and historical facts, but also mixes in conventional ideas about modern life.
He uses the image of a stone throughout his narrative, which represents timelessness and recalls Robert Kroetsch’s long poems. The Kroetsch work that specifically comes to mind (yet significantly differs) is "Stone Hammer Poem," where origin and representation (re/presentation) are explored through time. Kroetsch’s stone moves from a hammer, to a maul, to the poet’s paperweight. McKay’s stone tries to shift the meaning of being the centre of all things. But Kroetsch recognizes the importance of writing a narrative that isn’t just an addition to European history. McKay’s narrative fails to do the same.
Poems such as "Settlement Patterns" tell the story of colonizers. "Fill our cups to overflowing" is just one of the many Christian references that alludes to the settlers and their beliefs. The problem is that this primarily reflects the belief and culture of the Anglo-Saxons; McKay barely acknowledges the many other people that were a part of early Calgary, such as the Cree, Blackfoot, Metis, Chinese, Germans, Ukrainians, Hutterites, Mennonites, Japanese and Jews. Why not include the negative experiences many immigrants in Calgary faced because of discrimination, such as the Chinese-Canadian Head Tax of 1903, or the 1917 designation of Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans as "enemy aliens"? Why not mention the 1920 petition Victoria Park residents passed around trying to ban black residents? This is all part of Calgary’s history – a more shameful side, but part of it nonetheless.
There is also scant mention of women in McKay’s book, even though Stele of Several Ladies purports to be a long poem about women and early Calgary history. McKay states that "Newcomers enjoy the parade of Mounties and ladies elegant at their arm," but doesn’t tell the stories of the ladies themselves.
The image of the stone accompanies us throughout the book – quite literally, in Lauri Robertson’s simple yet striking photographs. But you have to wonder what would happen if you turned over the stone. McKay could dig deeper, beyond the layers of geological time and into the very bone marrow and fossil fuels that relate to Calgary’s wealth. Perhaps he can push this narrative further in his next long poem, unearthing the hidden stories buried in this land.
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