These poems each have a set of guided questions, related videos that allow for deeper investigation, and suggested writing activities. We'll be adding more poems here soon! Reluctance Even after you’ve jumped all the fences, climbed all the hills, and looked at the world, it can be hard to accept how you feel… I Am The speaker longs to escape himself and to find freedom from within and without Death of a Young Son by Drowning Blurring time but clarifying feeling, this poem gives voice to a mother who loses a son and gains a country. Dear Updike Evelyn Lau powerfully describes the world around her in order to grieve the loss of a beloved writer. Late Prayer Erin Robinsong delivers a quiet and fierce prayer for life on Earth in an age of ecological destruction and oligarchical domination Community Garden Seeking to escape internet trolls the speaker turns her eye to the garden The Fatigue Fatigue is often the first sign something is wrong with one's body. Fatigue looms larger than life in this poem which grapples with meds, family, and coping. Two Words: A Wedding bpNichol presents life as a river of ever-changing words and asks us to step in. Where There’s a Wall Both beauty and violence are just on the other side of the wall. 1992 Sometimes a scent or a site or a taste can sweep you up into the past. This finely honed narrative poem knows what that’s like. Sonoma A dreamlike sense of the uncanny hangs over this poem of an encounter on a coastal highway. Regardless This vibrant list poem celebrates the right to just Be. April 30, 2014 One spring day, dreading an afternoon appointment that will dredge up all kinds of terrible memories, the speaker of the poem focuses on the natural world around her. Fear of Snakes The life of a snake and the memory of girlhood trauma are told in sinuously entwined language. I've Tasted My Blood In this thunderous poem, the speaker proclaims his rage, anguish, and hope in the face of war and oppression. A Stone Diary A love poem to a stone takes on deeper, rockier meanings. I’ll Teach You Cree By sharing with us the untranslatable aspects of Cree culture, Scofield immerses the reader with the sensorial experiences that deepen the bonds of community. Editing the Prairie If the prairie was a written story, imagine the rejection letter it might get! The Bow What flows through a name, and a name, and a name? We Wear the Mask We Wear the Mask is a resilient and entrancing tug-of-war with external perceptions of self. Blank Sonnet Set in Halifax of the 1930s, this sensual, inebriated love poem plays with the sonnet form. Two Hours on the Train In this deceptively simple poem, a poet on a journey transcends time. Pale Blue Cover In this nostalgic poem, the speaker reminisces about the author Matt Cohen. The Potato Harvest This lonely poem is about so much more than a bare field. In Flanders Fields The dead summon us to action in this much-beloved poem of war. Buen Esqueleto With its allusions and repetitions, “Buen Esqueleto” speaks powerfully on behalf of families caught in the contemporary U.S. border conflict. I Have Not Lingered in European Monasteries By telling us what he hasn’t done, this poem’s speaker reveals his spiritual ambitions. Marshlands Quietly pause to take in the colours and sounds of a marsh. Chemo Side Effects: Memory The stop-start, grasping form of this poem mirrors the speaker's struggle to reconcile herself with one of the side effects of cancer treatment. Low Tide on Grand Pré The setting sun gives rise to a treasured memory of Grand Pré in this somber, rhythmic poem. Good Day Villanelle Is this a painful poem about a funny memory, or a funny poem about a painful memory? But I’m No One But I’m No one is a reflection on our tendency to fear death and the manifestation of this fear through uncanny beliefs. My sister cries the sea In this poem of environmental apocalypse, Mordecai pictures a divided planet as her sister, listening to the voices of plants and fish as they mourn habitat destruction in creole Other In Other, Livesay breaks free of patriarchy’s hold and ventures into landscapes of mountain, cedar forests, night skies, and the fierce interior of her spirit. I Have Something to Tell You In this surreal poem, a man made of cameras brings his unexpected concerns into sharper focus. Mantra of No Return It is possible to travel home when one has never been there. This poem does. Too Negative Have your friends’ parents ever warned them away from you because they thought you were a bad influence? “Too Negative” is a poem about that experience. Fast Commute Laurie Graham weathers an incongruous ice storm in this poem-excerpt that asks us to pause and understand that we are present here, “and with this understanding to start to hear.” These Poems, She Said Can an argument be the foundation of a love poem? Robert Bringhurst certainly thinks so! Gayatri A selfie with no one in it surprisingly captures the magic of a childhood friendship. Language English