In his first collection of poetry, Household Hints for the End of Time, Regina poet Ken Howe explores a wide range of subjects – from the inherent meaning of a refrigerator to the resonances and implications of love and music. As the book’s title implies, Howe’s poetry combines the everyday concerns of the domestic household with teleological concerns about the meaning of human existence.

The poems in the first two sections of the collection focus primarily on the “household hints” of the title, and this is where Howe’s poetry sparkles. These playfully descriptive vignettes about “ordinary” subjects are reminiscent of the weird imaginings of Douglas Adams and the tongue-in-cheek language of Gertrude Stein. In “A Cider Bottle,” Howe uses the now familiar poetic technique of the footnote to introduce even more interpretations of this seemingly mundane household object: “But I am really thinking of a mythical backdrop to human experience: the story of Eve. Eve didn’t eat an apple, of course, but you can. If you want to come over, I have some in my refrigerator right now.”

A pronounced shift in tone occurs midway through the collection. When the poems move away from the domestic sphere to explore subjects of love, death, and music, much of the quirky energy and language of the first section gives way to a more narrative style. Here the poems tell stories in an unconventional ballad form, where the simple linear narrative is counterpointed by equally simple refrains. In “A Maid in Hell,” the story of life in a geriatric psychiatric ward is interspersed with the refrain: “If I could only./If you could only./If we could only.”

Despite its unevenness and occasional lapses into cliché, the overall playfulness and sophisticated sense of rhythm, timing, and phrasing make the collection a strong first showing.