Margo Wheaton
Biography
Margo Wheaton - Photo Courtesy of the Author
Margo Wheaton is a Halifax based poet, freelance writer, and editor. Hailing from Moncton, New Brunswick, Wheaton developed her intuitive understanding of rhythm and language through early exposure to music and singing. Wheaton’s poetry and scholarly work has been featured in The Fiddlehead, The Globe and Mail, and The Literary Review of Canada among numerous other magazines and anthologies.
Wheaton’s debut poetry collection The Unlit Path Behind the House was well-received, winning the 2017 Fred Kerner Award from the Canadian Authors Association. This collection was also a finalist for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and the ReLit Award, among others. Described as “a stunning debut” by Jan Zwicky, The Unlit Path Behind the House examines the underlying search for light in dark places.
Wheaton’s debut poetry collection The Unlit Path Behind the House was well-received, winning the 2017 Fred Kerner Award from the Canadian Authors Association. This collection was also a finalist for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and the ReLit Award, among others. Described as “a stunning debut” by Jan Zwicky, The Unlit Path Behind the House examines the underlying search for light in dark places.
for M.S.
The day, for example, remembered
with startling clarity.
How the light rose over
the salmon-spotted rocks, threw
the pink dots into relief.
Tonight you can see it:
the light's love, its gentle attention –
an old painter with a magnificent eye.
In the arid landscape
of your divorce, a few portraits
wildly scrounged from the attic:
her face those times
you surprised her with orchids –
remembered to ask. How gratitude
shines like a missing earring
discovered in a boot-toe,
and the kitchen always filled
with steam, the steady complaint
of the kettle's mouth.
All the angry words and overturned
glasses as you tried to escape Sorrow's
frayed noose of weeping. The world
a green canvas outside the door.
Now this, unexpected at four
in the morning: the baffled ends
of emptiness drawing breath
on the pillow beside you.
The next day, her scarves
don't seem so offensive; and she
doesn't flinch at your ties, or the anxious way
you keep clearing your throat.
You could tell her
this time about the way her eyes
still hold you in their open net
like arms outstretched
on unmarked water, tell her
you understand everything now.
Published in The Unlit Path Behind the House. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016.
Republished here with the author’s permission.
The day, for example, remembered
with startling clarity.
How the light rose over
the salmon-spotted rocks, threw
the pink dots into relief.
Tonight you can see it:
the light's love, its gentle attention –
an old painter with a magnificent eye.
In the arid landscape
of your divorce, a few portraits
wildly scrounged from the attic:
her face those times
you surprised her with orchids –
remembered to ask. How gratitude
shines like a missing earring
discovered in a boot-toe,
and the kitchen always filled
with steam, the steady complaint
of the kettle's mouth.
All the angry words and overturned
glasses as you tried to escape Sorrow's
frayed noose of weeping. The world
a green canvas outside the door.
Now this, unexpected at four
in the morning: the baffled ends
of emptiness drawing breath
on the pillow beside you.
The next day, her scarves
don't seem so offensive; and she
doesn't flinch at your ties, or the anxious way
you keep clearing your throat.
You could tell her
this time about the way her eyes
still hold you in their open net
like arms outstretched
on unmarked water, tell her
you understand everything now.
Published in The Unlit Path Behind the House. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016.
Republished here with the author’s permission.
Critical Analysis: Painting Beauty to Reveal Sorrow: A Healing Process in Margo Wheaton’s “What Begins with Endings”
Neomi Iancu Haliva (English 3103: Advanced Poetry Workshop)
Margo Wheaton’s The Unlit Path Behind the House follows the pursuit of warmth in bleakness: a couple growing apart, holding a family together after the sudden loss of a loved one, the cold indifference of the world to someone’s trauma, and finding new imperfect love. The whole collection hangs in the frame of a teenager’s walk home, drunk in the arms of someone else, and misunderstood by a leering community. In this way, Wheaton challenges the reader to move beyond being mere audience to spectacle, beyond sympathy and pity, and towards empathy. To that end, the poem “What Begins with Endings” paints the bittersweet aftermath of a marriage disintegrating in a way that is both specific and universal.
The first three stanzas explore the relationship between light, the natural world, and art. Wheaton reveals intimacy between landscape, forces of nature, and artist through personification of the day and the light. The light rises over rocks, making their striking details visible and recordable for a painter, as though the light was imbued by the painter. Wheaton’s use of passive voice and past tense blurs lines of affect and effect. This relationship between details is thus symbiotic, as exemplified by the tenderness of the lines, marking the beginning of a day for the subjects to find closure.
Stanzas four through nine bring the reader to the heart of the matter: a once loving relationship which has come to an end, leaving the subjects to search through dusty memories. These lines, “a few portraits / wildly scrounged from the attic,” hold a compelling implication of something between shame and humility at the act of rummaging – perhaps figuratively – through the relationship’s artefacts: small moments of thoughtfulness, gratitude, and comfort. The subjects recall these moments despite knowing what else they will find: impassioned fights stemming from individual misery. But this misery is also personified; as day and light render the now in healing, “Sorrow’s / frayed noose” clutches the past. Every memory is a painting capturing beauty underscored by torment.
But the interplay between Sorrow and healing is as blurry as landscape and painting. In the following passage, the poem’s “you” wakes up, startled by the absence of their partner: “Now this, unexpected at four / in the morning: the baffled ends / of emptiness drawing breath / on the pillow beside you.” This subject is painfully familiar with their partner – with lying next to her. In this state between wake and sleep, absent of rational thought and shame, the subject allows themself to grieve that loss, and with that begin to heal.
The final four stanzas bring maturity and closure to the subject. Their reluctant recognition of both the loveliness and the faults of their relationship allows the subject and their former partner to move past the resentment and coexist in a much healthier way. In that, Wheaton advocates for shameless emotional honesty with the ones we love, or once loved, as well as with ourselves as the only way to lay our doubts to rest and “understand everything.”
Works Cited (for analysis):
Wheaton, Margo. The Unlit Path Behind the House. McGill-Queens UP, 2016, pp. 11-12.
Margo Wheaton’s The Unlit Path Behind the House follows the pursuit of warmth in bleakness: a couple growing apart, holding a family together after the sudden loss of a loved one, the cold indifference of the world to someone’s trauma, and finding new imperfect love. The whole collection hangs in the frame of a teenager’s walk home, drunk in the arms of someone else, and misunderstood by a leering community. In this way, Wheaton challenges the reader to move beyond being mere audience to spectacle, beyond sympathy and pity, and towards empathy. To that end, the poem “What Begins with Endings” paints the bittersweet aftermath of a marriage disintegrating in a way that is both specific and universal.
The first three stanzas explore the relationship between light, the natural world, and art. Wheaton reveals intimacy between landscape, forces of nature, and artist through personification of the day and the light. The light rises over rocks, making their striking details visible and recordable for a painter, as though the light was imbued by the painter. Wheaton’s use of passive voice and past tense blurs lines of affect and effect. This relationship between details is thus symbiotic, as exemplified by the tenderness of the lines, marking the beginning of a day for the subjects to find closure.
Stanzas four through nine bring the reader to the heart of the matter: a once loving relationship which has come to an end, leaving the subjects to search through dusty memories. These lines, “a few portraits / wildly scrounged from the attic,” hold a compelling implication of something between shame and humility at the act of rummaging – perhaps figuratively – through the relationship’s artefacts: small moments of thoughtfulness, gratitude, and comfort. The subjects recall these moments despite knowing what else they will find: impassioned fights stemming from individual misery. But this misery is also personified; as day and light render the now in healing, “Sorrow’s / frayed noose” clutches the past. Every memory is a painting capturing beauty underscored by torment.
But the interplay between Sorrow and healing is as blurry as landscape and painting. In the following passage, the poem’s “you” wakes up, startled by the absence of their partner: “Now this, unexpected at four / in the morning: the baffled ends / of emptiness drawing breath / on the pillow beside you.” This subject is painfully familiar with their partner – with lying next to her. In this state between wake and sleep, absent of rational thought and shame, the subject allows themself to grieve that loss, and with that begin to heal.
The final four stanzas bring maturity and closure to the subject. Their reluctant recognition of both the loveliness and the faults of their relationship allows the subject and their former partner to move past the resentment and coexist in a much healthier way. In that, Wheaton advocates for shameless emotional honesty with the ones we love, or once loved, as well as with ourselves as the only way to lay our doubts to rest and “understand everything.”
Works Cited (for analysis):
Wheaton, Margo. The Unlit Path Behind the House. McGill-Queens UP, 2016, pp. 11-12.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Wheaton, Margo. “A Geopolitics of the Natural World.” Rev. of Strike/Slip by Don McKay. The Globe & Mail , 15 Apr 2006, p. D19.
---. “Antidote.” Event, vol. 30, no. 2, Summer 2001, pp. 47-48.
---. “A Passionate Intelligence.” Rev. of Burning Bush by Elizabeth Brewster. The Fiddlehead, vol. 215, Spring 2003, pp. 113-116.
---. “Beautifully Sung.” Rev. of Hymns to Phenomena by S.D. Johnson. The Fiddlehead, vol. 211, Spring 2002, pp. 103-105.
---. “Beneath the Body’s Thin Surfaces.” Rev. of Light Falls Through You by Anne Simpson. The Fiddlehead, vol. 204, Summer 2000, pp. 238-242.
---. “Broken.” Heartwood: Poems for the Love of Trees. Ed. by Lesley Strutt, Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 2018.
---. “Grace.” Contemporary Verse 2: Forgiveness, vol. 27, 1 July 2004. www.contemporaryverse2.ca/poetry/grace/
---. “‘Impersonations of an Ordinary Woman’: Bishop Tribute in Halifax.” Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia Newsletter, vol. 12, Winter 2006, pp. 7-8.
---. “Margo Wheaton.” The Fiddlehead 75th Anniversary Issue, 2020. pp. 102-103.
---. “Night Hymn.” The Fiddlehead, vol. 214, Winter 2002, pp. 74-75.
---. “Ravens, Wilderness, and Poetic Attention.” Don McKay: Essays on His Works. Ed. by Brian Bartlett, Toronto: Guernica, 2006, pp. 117-125.
---. Rev. of Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards. The Antigonish Review, vol. 127. 2001, pp. 117-21.
---. “Small Heroics.” David Adams Richards: Essays on His Works. Ed. by Tony Tremblay, Toronto: Guernica, 2005, pp. 52-57.
---. “Star-crossed from Birth.” Rev. of Black Water Born by Fara Spence. The Globe & Mail, 28 Oct. 2006, p. D8.
---. Rev. of The True Names of Birds by Sue Goyette. Brick Books, brickbooks.ca. 2000.
---. The Unlit Path Behind the House. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2016.
---. “Three Poems.” The Antigonish Review, vol. 178, Summer 2014, pp. 80-82.
---. “Three Poems.” Prairie Fire, vol. 24, no. 4, Winter 2003, pp. 76-78.
---. “Two Poems.” The Fiddlehead, vol. 234, Winter 2008, pp. 27-29.
---. Rev. of Vis à Vis by Don McKay. The Antigonish Review, vol. 133, Spring 2003, pp. 35-40.
Secondary Sources
“Author Spotlight: Margo Wheaton.” Interview with Margo Wheaton. Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, 1 March 2019. www.writers.ns.ca/author-spotlight/author-spotlight-margo-wheaton/
Johnston, Elizabeth. “Wheaton’s Poems Surround the Reader Like a Forest.” Rev. of The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton. Atlantic Books Today, 25 Aug 2016. www.atlanticbooks.ca/stories/margo-wheaton-unlit-path/
Kneeland, Adam J. “‘Words You Know and Cannot Say’: Poetic Surrender in Margo Wheaton’s The Unlit Path Behind the House.” The Goose, vol. 15, no. 1, 2016. www.scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol15/iss1/16/
Mays, Mariianne. “Poetry Snapshot.” Rev. of All the Gold Hurts My Mouth by Katherine Leyton, Alive: New and Selected Poems by Elizabeth Willis, and The Unlit Path Behind the House. Herizons vol. 30, no. 3, Winter 2017, p. 43.
Paige, Abby. “Suddenly Intimate.” Rev. of Mission Creep by Joshua Trotter, The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton, Leviathan by Carmine Starnino, Model Disciple by Michael Prior, and The Snow Kimono by Ilona Martonfi. Montreal Review of Books, 2016. www.mtlreviewofbooks.ca/reviews/poetry-8/
Rempel, Al. “Walking Through the Darkness.” Rev. of The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton. ARC Poetry Magazine, arcpoetry.ca. 18 March 2017. www.arcpoetry.ca/2017/03/18/walking-through-the-darkness-margo-wheatons-the-unlit-path-behind-the-house/
Robinson, Jack. “Re-Reading David Adams Richards: Ironies of Allegory in Mercy Among the Children.” Studies in Canadian Literature, vol. 36, no. 2, 2011. SCL, Web. www.journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/SCL/article/view/18921
Schingler, Michelle Anne. Rev. of The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton. Forward Reviews, 22 Aug 2016. www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/the-unlit-path-behind-the-house/
“‘Women Writers’ | Beth Everest, Jennifer Houle, Margo Wheaton.” Interview with Beth Everest, Jennifer Houle, and Margo Wheaton. League of Canadian Poets, 19 May 2017. Web. www.poets.ca/women-writers-beth-everest-jennifer-houle-margo-wheaton/
Wheaton, Margo. “A Geopolitics of the Natural World.” Rev. of Strike/Slip by Don McKay. The Globe & Mail , 15 Apr 2006, p. D19.
---. “Antidote.” Event, vol. 30, no. 2, Summer 2001, pp. 47-48.
---. “A Passionate Intelligence.” Rev. of Burning Bush by Elizabeth Brewster. The Fiddlehead, vol. 215, Spring 2003, pp. 113-116.
---. “Beautifully Sung.” Rev. of Hymns to Phenomena by S.D. Johnson. The Fiddlehead, vol. 211, Spring 2002, pp. 103-105.
---. “Beneath the Body’s Thin Surfaces.” Rev. of Light Falls Through You by Anne Simpson. The Fiddlehead, vol. 204, Summer 2000, pp. 238-242.
---. “Broken.” Heartwood: Poems for the Love of Trees. Ed. by Lesley Strutt, Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 2018.
---. “Grace.” Contemporary Verse 2: Forgiveness, vol. 27, 1 July 2004. www.contemporaryverse2.ca/poetry/grace/
---. “‘Impersonations of an Ordinary Woman’: Bishop Tribute in Halifax.” Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia Newsletter, vol. 12, Winter 2006, pp. 7-8.
---. “Margo Wheaton.” The Fiddlehead 75th Anniversary Issue, 2020. pp. 102-103.
---. “Night Hymn.” The Fiddlehead, vol. 214, Winter 2002, pp. 74-75.
---. “Ravens, Wilderness, and Poetic Attention.” Don McKay: Essays on His Works. Ed. by Brian Bartlett, Toronto: Guernica, 2006, pp. 117-125.
---. Rev. of Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards. The Antigonish Review, vol. 127. 2001, pp. 117-21.
---. “Small Heroics.” David Adams Richards: Essays on His Works. Ed. by Tony Tremblay, Toronto: Guernica, 2005, pp. 52-57.
---. “Star-crossed from Birth.” Rev. of Black Water Born by Fara Spence. The Globe & Mail, 28 Oct. 2006, p. D8.
---. Rev. of The True Names of Birds by Sue Goyette. Brick Books, brickbooks.ca. 2000.
---. The Unlit Path Behind the House. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2016.
---. “Three Poems.” The Antigonish Review, vol. 178, Summer 2014, pp. 80-82.
---. “Three Poems.” Prairie Fire, vol. 24, no. 4, Winter 2003, pp. 76-78.
---. “Two Poems.” The Fiddlehead, vol. 234, Winter 2008, pp. 27-29.
---. Rev. of Vis à Vis by Don McKay. The Antigonish Review, vol. 133, Spring 2003, pp. 35-40.
Secondary Sources
“Author Spotlight: Margo Wheaton.” Interview with Margo Wheaton. Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, 1 March 2019. www.writers.ns.ca/author-spotlight/author-spotlight-margo-wheaton/
Johnston, Elizabeth. “Wheaton’s Poems Surround the Reader Like a Forest.” Rev. of The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton. Atlantic Books Today, 25 Aug 2016. www.atlanticbooks.ca/stories/margo-wheaton-unlit-path/
Kneeland, Adam J. “‘Words You Know and Cannot Say’: Poetic Surrender in Margo Wheaton’s The Unlit Path Behind the House.” The Goose, vol. 15, no. 1, 2016. www.scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/vol15/iss1/16/
Mays, Mariianne. “Poetry Snapshot.” Rev. of All the Gold Hurts My Mouth by Katherine Leyton, Alive: New and Selected Poems by Elizabeth Willis, and The Unlit Path Behind the House. Herizons vol. 30, no. 3, Winter 2017, p. 43.
Paige, Abby. “Suddenly Intimate.” Rev. of Mission Creep by Joshua Trotter, The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton, Leviathan by Carmine Starnino, Model Disciple by Michael Prior, and The Snow Kimono by Ilona Martonfi. Montreal Review of Books, 2016. www.mtlreviewofbooks.ca/reviews/poetry-8/
Rempel, Al. “Walking Through the Darkness.” Rev. of The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton. ARC Poetry Magazine, arcpoetry.ca. 18 March 2017. www.arcpoetry.ca/2017/03/18/walking-through-the-darkness-margo-wheatons-the-unlit-path-behind-the-house/
Robinson, Jack. “Re-Reading David Adams Richards: Ironies of Allegory in Mercy Among the Children.” Studies in Canadian Literature, vol. 36, no. 2, 2011. SCL, Web. www.journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/SCL/article/view/18921
Schingler, Michelle Anne. Rev. of The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton. Forward Reviews, 22 Aug 2016. www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/the-unlit-path-behind-the-house/
“‘Women Writers’ | Beth Everest, Jennifer Houle, Margo Wheaton.” Interview with Beth Everest, Jennifer Houle, and Margo Wheaton. League of Canadian Poets, 19 May 2017. Web. www.poets.ca/women-writers-beth-everest-jennifer-houle-margo-wheaton/
