Vibrant Matter and Domestic Wisdom in Erin Brubacher’s In the Small Hours

Abstract

Canadian poet Erin Brubacher’s In the Small Hours is a sequence of sparse poems which focus on the experiences and emotions underwent by the author in the aftermath of her divorce. Interspersed with memories from the past and encounters with the vitality of domestic objects, the collection shows the poetic persona making sense of her life and the world in meditative lyrics of great brevity. Drawing on Jane Bennett’s conceptualisation of “vibrant matter,” this article explores how Brubacher responds to the thing-power circulating within and around the bodies populating the Earth, whilst acknowledging a sense of communion with the more-than-human world.