Friday, August 31, 2012

That's quite enough of that, giant fireball in the sky. You just quit it now. by rob mclennan


for Christine McNair,


            Tell me more about
            crayons, contingency
            and winter fruit
                        Juliana Leslie, More Radiant Signal


1.

Long held, tradition. Bodes. A swimmer's tongue, a toque. This camoflauge. We open at the waist.

I live, inside. So, lost at sea. Orchestral. The middle of a boy. Blind knot, among.

Misunderstandings. Limit, some. A twitterfeed. The possibilities of narratives, themes.

To bring her paper, eat. Long foot, they sketch. Model, cast. A train is not a marriage.

Immaculate. Without the aid of, mirrors. Marketing, a greater language. Listen, son.


2.

Not, out of mind. Poor scowling mouths. Who says, the wind. A street name. Who says, pour.

When, is attitude enough. Our midnight throats, a scar. Sweet, swallow. Birds.

Somewhere between ten, eleven. An organized blur, she vanished. I pictured, sun. Myself.

Split, into a middle. Term. Arms, through skin. Another contour, wake. This. How, I do not say.

I want, vernacular. Swimming, hub of stars. Ophelia, Kryptonite. Sad songs. You, this youness.




Born in Ottawa, Canada’s glorious capital city, rob mclennan [photo by Christine McNair] currently lives in Ottawa. The author of more than twenty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, he won the John Newlove Poetry Award in 2011, and his most recent titles are the poetry collections grief notes: (BlazeVOX [books], 2012), A (short) history of l. (BuschekBooks, 2011), Glengarry (Talonbooks, 2011) and kate street (Moira, 2011), and a second novel, missing persons (2009), as well as a slew of recent chapbooks with above/ground press, little red leaves textile editions, Corrupt Press, Grey Borders Books, Gorse Press, Free Poetry For, unarmed journal, &then&then, The Red Ceilings Press, Apostrophe Press and Smallminded Books. An editor and publisher, he runs above/ground press, Chaudiere Books (with Jennifer Mulligan), The Garneau Review (www.ottawater.com/garneaureview), seventeen seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics (www.ottawater.com/seventeenseconds) and the Ottawa poetry pdf annual ottawater (www.ottawater.com). He spent the 2007-8 academic year in Edmonton as writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta, and regularly posts reviews, essays, interviews and other notices at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

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