Dog Ear

Like the “page turned down to make another / page,” Dog Ear explores the marks we leave on a world whose social and political markers are constantly shifting. In his fourth book of poems—and most powerful work to date—Jim Johnstone establishes himself as an exquisite observer of decay, both physical and spiritual. This is a universe where man resembles “the final / generation of a species branching / towards an in-between.” Johnstone’s poetry blurs past and present, private and public in a kinetic style marked by weird semi-narratives, defamiliarizing close-ups and raw self-examinations.

Reviews

Previous praise for Jim Johnstone:

“There is a lot to admire in Patternicity: musicality, intelligence, toughness, tensile juxtapositions of rational enquiry and lyrical tenderness.”—Arc Poetry Magazine

“Johnstone’s poems are entertaining, erotic, and dangerous, and at times brute in their clean, heart-wrenching details.”—Mansfield Review

“Johnstone simply does not miss opportunities to drive home his music, to exploit each vowel’s potential to ring and electrify its neighbours.”—Maple Tree Literary Supplement