Poetry

Teaching an Old Dog

Every afternoon my dog takes me for a walk. We begin by getting very excited running circles of gratitude in the hallway for the mere idea of walking. Once outside, she makes me practice my lessons. Run as fast as you can for no reason. Chase things you have no hope...

Dostoevsky

He was a man unconvinced by pancakes. He said that as she licked the syrup off her fingertips, Funny, it happened all the time, though she never touched He was a man unconvinced by pancakes. He said that as she licked the syrup off her fingertips, Funny, it happened...

The End of Marriage

When snow is falling it’s possible you’ll feel listless. Snow, after all, smothers everything, street signs, garden lanterns, the sad hump of the dog buried in the yard three years ago, what you can and cannot see. When snow is falling it’s possible you’ll feel...

Lakeshore

Arriving at the lakeshore one morning I came upon a poem Arriving at the lakeshore one morning I came upon a poem not of pristine sailboats cutting into precise horizons nor of the watercolour sunrise, nor even of the sound the water makes as it drags itself like...

Mother Earth at the bar

Truth be told, sometimes she gets bored of the bowing down, all that blessing her with gentle hands. Come night she wants to wade through a mess of hips and eyes Truth be told, sometimes she gets bored of the bowing down, all that blessing her with gentle hands. Come...

Cousin

yeah, I’d say he was surprised to see me, out of my loop, so to speak, so was he, my cousin Mel in a small-town hospital, playing patient, not doing a good job either, his big-boat Buick poised in the lot for getaway yeah, I’d say he was surprised to see me, out of my...

Into Grains of Sand

The 2nd place poetry winner of our 2005 contest, "Into Grains of Sand" by Zoya Harris of Vancouver, BC. I. Your dog sleeps on the back seat, a blanket spread below his dream-twitches like the blue night spreads across the open road. I can’t imagine you beside me, a...

Overwintering

The winner of our 2005 Poetry Contest. And see how the flesh grows back across a wound, with a great vehemence, more strong. —Jane Hirshfield I. She hovers by the filament lamp hard pellet in her abdomen and watches in the blackness his feet swallowed up in rough...

Alive

Under the knife blade, my mother’s broken hand in a sling, purple peel strips off over the face of the counter. Under the knife blade, my mother’s broken hand in a sling, purple peel strips off over the face of the counter. Her cheek, swollen, is marked by a bruise,...

Wedding Anniversary

He has eaten so much duck that he cannot talk to his wife the memory of the duck skin slips past his tongue to catch and clutch in his throat while a small bit of duck meat is stuck in the back molar of his closed mouth and the scent of Chinese spices and sweet fruit...

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ROOM 48.1 WITS END
In times of crisis, we laugh to offer tenderness, to ward off despair— so we can be brave. Gather round ROOM 48.1 WITS END and let humour be a mirror held up to the state of the world as we continue to resist.

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ROOM 47.4 FULL CIRCLE
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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