Erin’s Thom
Faded plaid, wrapped thin
to the elbows only,
undershirt showing
probably on purpose.
He’s dancing like driving
a tractor
a school bus.
The slight bend of his knees
every one and three.
One
and
Three.
Hands behind his back
palms up
together
ready
for harvest
for snow.
~ Emma Hooper
“I’m an native-Albertan who moved to the UK four years ago to teach creative writing at Bath Spa university and play lots of viola for lots of fine British bands. I find the tension of ‘old home’ (Alberta) versus ‘new home’ (the UK) informs much of my creative work, including these two short pieces.
The poem ‘Gerry’ is a minimalist character portrait of my Farmer uncle, frozen in a moment of a sort of prayer to his land.”
Editor’s note: This poem is from Home and Away – a sequel to the bestselling Writing the Land (2007). Look for one poet to be featured each day as Alberta poets ponder the question “what is home?†and explore our complex relationship with working on, living with, exploiting and protecting our land and our home. For more information about the project, click here.
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