In this début collection, Dell Catherall shapes language the way a gardener prunes an aspen tree. Paying tribute to a garden, a husband, a son lost to childhood demons, the poems in this collection connect the humble to the luminous. A draft dodger collects wild plants from the coast of British Columbia. Camellias bloom as a sex worker from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside enters a creative writing class. Witch hazel acts as a metaphor for a son suffering with bipolar disorder.
With the four seasons as an overarching structure, Catherall deftly moves between forms: A palindrome reveals the murderous and miraculous qualities of rhubarb. "Fig Sestina" describes a perfect summer gift from the husband's garden.
Frozen hellebore blooms and bleeding hearts garland a journey through motherhood, marriage, and friendship, while wisteria cascades outside the boundaries of pleasure and grief. Lush, fragrant, and humming with life, A Garden in the Rain reminds us that all is never lost—that plants may die, but "gardens are forever."
