Without Beginning or End by Jacqueline Bourque

Without Beginning or End by Jacqueline Bourque

In my palliative months / the cormorant leaves me / at peace, disintegrating / with the exhalation of a Buddha

Without Beginning or End is Jacqueline Bourque’s final testament to a life well lived, written in the wake of a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Deeply inspired by her Acadian upbringing along the ocean shores of New Brunswick, these are poems populated by aerialists, painters, and the spirit of Charles Baudelaire, who connects the poet to “the ligatures of life.” Those ligatures in turn connect her with family in the collection’s remarkable title suite, bringing new life to a past that continues to resonate in the present.

Without Beginning or End is a book about love, friendship, art, and the human condition. Beautiful, and poignantly human, it is an emotionally charged parting gift to loved ones and readers alike.

Jacqueline Bourque (1949–2023) was an Ottawa-based poet. Her poems appeared in The Antigonish Review, The Dalhousie Review, The Fiddlehead, and the Queen’s Quarterly. Her first book is Repointing the Bricks (Mansfield Press, 2021), shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award.