my grandfather’s face
sinks into red hollows
he snarls I’m a liar
makes me wash
in the clawfoot tub
drives my back
to St. Ursula’s
leaves me
with Father Sylvestre
to confess
statues of saints
watch from pedestals
witness what happens
so does the Madonna
she must hear my cries
yet when I look up
nothing has changed
she still holds her child
leaves me alone
with the priest
~ Mary Ann Mulhern
This poem is […]
it’s night when the convoy arrives
bringing expatriates from Wood Buffalo Park, Alberta;
plains bison, returning to bald Saskatchewan prairie
they’d once shared with the First Nations
71 ornery, wild-eyed hump-backed dinosaurs
wearing capes of tangled wiry wool
moonlight swathes the prairie in silvery blue;
a small crowd waits, to greet, to celebrate
they are all released at once
spectators reacting with the […]
Put a poetry book on a table,
Turn it at an askew angle
And consider the tension that angle brings.
~ Kees Kapteyn
Kees Kapteyn lives in Niagara, Ontario. A painter and writer, Kees has self-published two chapbooks, “Grubstreet” and “Coffee Salt,” as well as been published in magazines such as Canadian Stories, Novella, Corvid Revue, Revolution 21 […]
Now, just look at this book.
It’s so beautiful, dog-eared and beat up
Having passed through hundreds of hands;
This promiscuous book.
The lines and creases of use are born on its cover
And the words inside hold its nature
Like a tender fleshed fruit.
I love it deeply.
~ Kees Kapteyn
Kees Kapteyn lives in Niagara, Ontario. A painter and writer, Kees […]
I will spill drinks.
I will break things unceremoniously,
stick my foot in my mouth,
but never chomp on my tongue.
Because you love me I will forget some,
but never the scars you hold;
everything you say in quiet darkness.
I will say the wrong thing,
still sound awkward on the phone,
bang my funny bone.
Because you love me I will sing in […]
