P.S. by Penn Kemp and Sharon Thesen

Over the course of 2018, two icons of Canadian poetry, Penn Kemp, and Sharon Thesen, sent poems to each other, with the goal being a monthly exchange.  The result is a chapbook called P.S., a collection of 11 poems by Kemp, who lives in London, Ontario, and 13 by Thesen, who resides in Lake Country, British Columbia.

For multiple reasons, P.S. exudes a definite air of nostalgia.  Partly, this reflects some reminiscing of two long-time friends looking back over the Canadian literary scene, and life in general.  And from the (nearly, we all hope) post-plague perspective of early summer 2022, there is something wistful about the pre-Covid era, even as recent as just four years ago.

Additionally, while technology such as email, messaging and more have wrought a revolution in textual correspondence, there is still (for me at least) a lovely retro quality to a periodic written conversation, especially when conducted over a distance.  The one we have here meanders through an impressive range of topics, including aging, weather (sometimes extreme) and climate change, injuries, forest fires, elder poets (“those//who created myth—if not to live, to learn by” [Early Release]), grocery store magazines, the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, the Greek mythological enchantress Circe, an aged neighbour’s ailing dog, and trees.

A significant through-line is provided by backyard birds, which is reflected in the elegant cover design.  They appear in nine of the pieces, sometimes briefly, sometimes as a major theme.  Among others we meet “the poor quail I found dead on the stones//perfectly beautiful curved head-feather//proud and princely” (For Penn, Injured); “trees//creaking with crows & ravens” (April Out West); “the Savannah Sparrow”…”changing//his tune to match oil drills in disappearing//mixed grass prairie” (In the Air); and the duellers of Competition, Cardinal Style who evoke memories of those elder poets of yesteryear.

May Poem, referencing the dominant cover colour, expresses the wish for “…a line like a lilac—small petals arrayed//in a sort of cone, to catch the bees and butterflies//of life”.  There are many such lines here, capturing the moments and the trajectory of the seasons and of a special friendship.  Kemp and Thesen may have “turned into old poets, nearly” (Early December Poem), “the age//our mentors were when we//so admired them” (Early Release), but their skills are as fresh as ever in this wonderfully heartwarming cycle.


Printed in a limited run of fifty copies at Product Photo in Toronto, this chapbook has a colour cover in just the right shade of mauve. Cover designed and chapbook typeset by Kate Siklosi. Penn Kemp & Sharon Thesen, P. S. — Gap Riot Press

Jennifer Wenn is a trans-identified writer and speaker from London, Ontario.  Her first poetry chapbook, A Song of Milestones, has been published by Harmonia Press (an imprint of Beliveau Books).  She has also written From Adversity to Accomplishment, a family and social history; and published poetry in WordCity Literary JournalShot Glass Journal, The Stratford QuarterlyBeliveau ReviewJourney of the HeartThe Ekphrastic ReviewWatchyourheadOpen Minds QuarterlyTuck MagazineSynaeresisBig Pond Rumours, Poetry Pause, Fresh VoicesWordsfestzine, and the anthologies Poems in Response to PerilDénouement and Things That Matter.  She has also spoken at a wide variety of venues and is the proud parent of two adult children.  Visit her website at jenniferwennpoet.wixsite.com/home