“In Linda Martin’s lovely collection, The Colour of Clouds, we are presented with images that deftly record fragments of lives and landscapes throughout the greater-Toronto-Hamilton-area. These are storied places, rich with significant figures and moments in time. The poems are intimately reconstructed from what remains of culture, of nature and of individual narrations. In amongst the simulacra of subdivisions and contemporary forgetting, this significant body of work not only documents earlier generations, but also challenges us to reflect upon our own histories. Each finely constructed poetic moment leans forward, first in demonstrating the relationship that has been established between it and the writer’s personal experience and then, through Martin’s beautiful and economical combination of narrative, symbol and connection, into the world of the reader.”
–Lucy E.M. Black, author of The Marzipan Fruit Basket, and Eleanor Courtown

“Linda Martin’s The Colour of Clouds leads us through an exploration of the Ontario small towns surrounding Toronto and the “disrupted landscapes” of that countryside today. The poet, in careful well-crafted detail, reveals the stories and secrets of historical figures and landmarks from the past–a time when “time expanded.” She surprises us, too, with her own present-day discoveries, and gifts us with intriguing lines such as “today the mood is bluegrass,” or a memorable image like “a whiff of clover from the last scrap of exhausted field.” This is an original, timely, and impressive poetry collection.”
–Marilyn Potter, author of Leave-Taking