Ritardando

Adele Graf

this metropolis is hurly-burly—
you’re striving with deadlines
crosstown, half-drowned
in long lists—consume that, buy this
chase what’s brash and new—
your strained schedule bursting
with some added task
always left to do

while nearby, along cool paths
sun sips mountain lakes
wind sings solo to surrounding spruce
peaks draped in snowy shawls sit placidly
puzzled why you rush—
with ample calm awaiting here
to ease jangled voices
back to natural hush

Adele Graf‘s poetry has appeared previously in Room and in The Antigonish ReviewThe Dalhousie ReviewCV2White Wall ReviewCanadian Woman StudiesParchment, and Bywords Quarterly Journal. Adele lives in Ottawa, where she devotes her time to writing, singing, her family, and her cat.

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Step back with Room into the past, to parents, to childhood homes, and to people once known and loved; dig into themes of grief and healing; and ultimately explore what it means to come full circle in literature.

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