The word that defines Craig Rain's poetry is “defamiliarization”. Be it through the eyes of a Martian, the memories of a lost romance, or the madness of crossing the Kalahari Desert, Raine's poetry has an odd sense of beauty. The word choice is odd, the scenarios described in a strange manner, and there is very little obvious about the themes of each poem. A founding member of the “Martian School” of poetry, Raine desired to describe the world in strange and oddly beauty ways. This also results in describing the absurdity of humanity in bemusing ways.
“A Martian Sends A Postcard Home” is definitely Raine's most famous poem. In the poem, a Martian (or space alien) describes what he views as humanity's odd habits. Be it the use of watches, the prison of cars, or even the impossibility of sleep, the human world is totally alien to the Martian. The Martian's attempts to describe daily scenarios comes out as strange and distended. This allows Raine to paint amusing observations about how strange human society really is in poetic verse. The Martian gives the poet a pair of fresh eyes to examine the world with.
“The Onion, Memory” is perhaps Raine's most straightforward poem, but still dabbles in defamiliarization. The narrator of the poem has just restored a friendship with an old wife and lover. The issue is memories of daily life constantly bring the narrator back to the time of their romance. Actions as simple as walking, cutting an onion, and hanging cloths brings on immense sadness to the narrator. The inability to detach action, emotion, and memory leaves the narrator confused about the world. Everything the narrator sees is described through strange imagery and metaphors from disturbing to simply strange. The world the narrator experiences is constantly filtered through these old associated memories of romance.
“In The Kalahari Desert” tells about an ill-fated expedition through the Kalahari Desert. The assembly of characters suffer a broken axle on their oxcart which results in them being stranded in the desert. As the group dwindles day by day, it is clear they have lost something more than their lives. Much of Raine's imagery in the poem is odd and unnatural to reflect the terrifying situation. The inability of words to describe the situation as the unspoken fact of death ever lurks around the characters who become corpses. As the final burial in sand ends with a “Shh”, the poem turns to an odd silence.
The reader is always left with an odd sensation by the end of Raine's poems. Raine's poetry always attempts to force the reader to examine the world in a new light. In many ways, the reader may soon find themselves agreeing with the Martian's observations.
