"No one noticed,/ not even him, the black speck/ at the corner of his smile./ It began to spread, creeping across his lips/ like an oil-bled kiss."
A poem from Rob Lewis about the pipeline-addicted prime minister.
Tag: poetry
This Was The River
"This was the river hiked dreaming upstream
dropping gear and then clothing for the full
brown pull of surrendered connection, deliverance."
An introspective poem set on the banks of the Fraser River, by British Columbia poet John Pass.
I’ll Never Own a Home in Vancouver
Poet and memoirist Chelene Knight reflects on growing up in Vancouver, and comes to terms with the fact she'll probably never own a home there as prices continue to skyrocket. A lyrical examination of what's lost as cities confront gentrification.
Elegy for Tahlequah’s Calf
In a powerful poem, Paul Nelson helps us grieve along with an orca mother who has been keeping her dead calf afloat for more than five days in the Salish Sea.
In Praise of Not Knowing the Names of Birds
A poem by Judith Barrington:
"I cannot name the one with the scimitar beak and the mohawk
who spends all day drilling holes in tree trunks."
Two Georges: A talk with poetry legends Bowering & Stanley
Sitting down with George Bowering, Canada’s first poet laureate, and George Stanley, recipient of the Shelley Memorial Award, Seattle-based poet Paul E. Nelson engages in a lively exchange with two venerated British Columbia poets as these longtime friends banter about the process of creating art.
A poet and scientist listen to the bees
The book Listening to the Bees is a collaboration between poet Renée Sarojini Saklikar and renowned biologist and bee expert Mark Winston. In a conversation with poet Rachel Rose, the authors discuss the ways science and poetry can change how we perceive our interactions with the natural world.
The Abyssopelagic
Spokane poet Ellen Welcker explores the simple joys of being a parent:
"when you’re blue at the ocean it swallows you
you enter each other you merge
you become something old
barnacled
soft"
The Return of the Elwha King
Seattle poet Paul Nelson's ode to the runs of king salmon returning to the Elwha River after the dam is gone.
"He’s back! Belly full of planktonic diatoms, copepods, kelp, seaweed, jellyfish, starfish, bugs, amphipods & crustaceans so delicious served up at Sakura as sake..."
Icicle Creek
"It’s unnatural to see the tears of my children, husbands,
and then mine—all collected on the roof of my house."
A dreamlike exploration of desire and mortality from Seattle poet E.J. Koh, from her collection, A Lesser Love.