understories

My first full-length book of poetry, published in 2010 by Caitlin Press.

“understories is an act of poetic cartography, a mapping of interiority where BC roads, like a new fresh language, lead to human contact, human connection, and those tender contemplative places we sometimes search for. When I enter an Al Rempel poem I feel secure in knowing it is made with care and precision; there is not a word that he hasn’t weighed in his hand, rolled around in his head, tried on his tongue. Rempel is a master craftsman with a keen ear and an uncompromising eye to the small details of home, whether they lull and soothe or they snap and spark. His poems are places of comfort, surprise, artistry—they are places to live.”

-- Rob Budde

"Al Rempel uses the language of…the rough-sleeved working stiffs of northern BC…when he captures fragments of slang like “chuck it down the hatch…” [H]is lyricism reaches heights that crackle with originality and echo in the brain. Rempel proves that it’s the poet, not the environmentalist, who makes us ache to preserve the natural beauty of the world."

-- Art Joyce