scrap jar, by Meghan Jackson

the bell jar on
my counter
is full

full of fabrics
threads of things
i've made
and collected

rips of clothes
i've worn through
my kids have
worn out
my husband
has worn threadbare

and one of these days
i will take a fine needle
and strong thread
and sew them together
neatly into a fabric

for now they stay bottled
in the jar on my counter
moths flutter against the glass
at night
trying to feed off the stories inside

Meghan Jackson is a wife, mother, writer, and knitwear designer in a small town in Ontario, Canada.  She has three young children, a wonderful husband, and more yarn and ideas than she can knit and publish in a lifetime. Find her knitwear at http://www.butterflyknit.ca and on Ravelry, here. Author of movements in jars (Chaudiere Books, 2006) and a part of various collections.

pigeon chickadee the horse, by Joe Blades

how can i, this table too small,

weights tied around my ankles

as if i’m a carrier of messages

or too fast to run, eyes hooded

to prevent natural hunt

how can i spread my pigeon wings

horse statue already in today’s night

darkness of time atop warring

and meet one fish on a different river

far upstream when your eyes alight

on a chickadee in your freezer

victim of one of your windows

how can i be on your inside

not splat and frozen for future

study and rendering on paper

please pick up your pencil

to draw— this isn’t the time

to kick ball and run

field until elimination

—there’s other ways to live

and i might show you one

may i? i know that after dead

chickadee you might want me

to stand just so for you to hold

pose you want as long as you need

i feel the seasons moon

but they don’t weight on me

as on so many others my age

i wake with predawn crows

don’t sing for iron bells

don’t run with herd

we talked one laughing night

imagine us beyond horse

beyond middle east

beyond celts homeland

our art and poetry there too

below sea level with russian vodka

in glasses of european muslims

oilfield below caspian sea

and us at a café on shore

Joe Blades lives in Fredericton, NB. He is an artist–writer, educator, producer–host of the 17-year-old Ashes,Paper & Beans community radio program at CHSR 97.9 FM, a Master of Education candidate at the University of New Brunswick, a member of the editorial boards of revue ellipse mag and ATKA: A Journal of Canadian Studies (Romania), founding publisher of Broken Jaw Press, a Past President of the League of Canadian Poets, editor of ten collections, and the author of seven poetry books, including Prison Songs and Storefront Poetry (Ekstasis Editions, 2010) and Casemate Poems (Collected) (Chaudiere Books, 2011). His newest book, Iz knjige koja se ne zatvara (2012), translated by Tatjana Bijelić, is co-published by Broken Jaw Press and Art Print in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With Regards to the Fleshing Beam, by Trisia Eddy

 All it takes is awareness; he is fixed in the motion of peel. Depending on how she holds her flesh, his blade may or may not run smooth. A knot needs only one opening to impair his rhythm. Mars the ease with which he sinks into reverie, sliver of eye open to the glow of embedded pigment. 

The glisten. A catch of air or skin, inhalation. When the sky opens just a pulse, a singular stroke will let him into her. Imagine the interruption this causes, hand on blade.

Sleep knows two things: dreams or oblivion.  This is his way of allowing her to see, far better than slumber. Quaking. Intensities of harsh breath. The sound is his alone, while she persists in sustained hush. Only silent. It is soft.

Trisia Eddy is the author of Edith & Aurelia: A Romantic Tragedy in Five Acts (2011, Dancing Girl Press), and editor and publisher of Red Nettle Press. Her work has been included in a variety of literary journals and collaborations, and she is currently immersed in a series of artists' books inspired by recent visits to Natural History museums throughout North America and Europe. Visit online at: www.rednettlepress.com

Partly Cloudy, by Jordan Abel

1

Of course. Rocks under

toes. Skin under sun. Light

under mind. Of course.

Sweat over nails. Knees

behind dirt. Jackets over

trees. Of course. Signs

over eyes. Shoes under

hats. Ears beside fences.

Of course. Sky under

sweaters. Branches over

shorts. Backpacks behind

bushes. Of course.

2

Of course. Nitrogen over

oxygen. Argon through

carbon dioxide. Neon

beside helium. Methane

behind krypton. Hydrogen

under nitrogen. Of course.

3

Of course. Helium through

jackets. Feet between

neon. Trees over methane.

Of course. Oxygen under

nails. Mind behind argon.

Carbon dioxide through

sweaters. Of course. Shoes

over krypton. Hydrogen

under hats. Nitrogen beside

sky. Of course.

Jordan Abel is a First Nations writer whose work has been published in CV2, Grain and Canadian Literature. He is a contributing editor for Geist and a former editor for PRISM international. His first collection of poetry is forthcoming from Talonbooks. Visit him at www.jordanabel.ca.

Two Colonizations from Sonnet's Shakespeare, by Sonnet L'Abbé

LXXIII

of in me or or

do in me of as

in by by up in

me of on of as

it it by to

few the the day

the and all the

the his lie the

bed was thy ere

That time year thou When none

hang upon cold bare late sang

thou such west doth take away

self that rest thou such fire

that doth must with that this

thou love more love that well

thou must long

mayst those which shake where

sweet birds see'st after which

black night seals see'st ashes

youth death which which makes

which leave

behold boughs yellow

ruin'd leaves choirs

sunset fadeth death's

second expire strong

 

against glowing

twilight whereon consum'd

nourish'd

perceivs't

LXXXV

able add affords, 'Amen' all And And And before breath But by compil'd come character clerk cry comments dumb effect fil'd for for form every golden good good Hearing her his hindmost holds holds hymn I I In in in in is love like manners Me more most Muse Muses My my my of of of of others others, pen. polish'd praise praise praised precious phrase rank Reserve respect,

richly the the their Then Though tis 'tis tongue-tied To to true,'

quill, say so, something speaking spirit still, still that that the think thought, thoughts, thoughts to unlettered well-refined While whilst whose write with words, words words you you your

Sonnet L’Abbé is the author of two collections of poetry, A Strange Relief and Killarnoe, and a reviewer of Canadian fiction and poetry for The Globe and Mail. Her work has been included in Best Canadian Poetry 2009 and 2010 and was shortlisted for the the 2010 CBC Literary Award for poetry. She is currently teaching creative writing at the University of British Columbia and writing a dissertation on botanical metaphors in representations of human cognition in the work of American poet Ronald Johnson.

SAFE IN THE UNDERCURRENT, BY JAY MILLAR

Across the street in the dark, the park poem has
begun to hibernate. The word grass pales; the word
leaf fades to brown and disappears. Some words
migrate south or pull their bodies back into the earth;
there are a few words that linger but they are
obfuscated by damp and snow; some migrate south.
Others stick around and try to say other words. Most
of them are words for trees. This is how it happens
year after year: the words change, grow older, leach
some primal form of energy.

Eventually I will go outside and this poem will be
gone. Not just this poem, but all poems. The world
will be somehow naked, stripped bare, an inhospitable
habitat. I will have nothing but my role as an ego
trying to cry out in the wilderness and nothing to
speak with but the words that were once something
entirely different.

Jay MillAr [photo credit: Reid Millar] is a Toronto poet, editor, publisher, teacher and virtual bookseller. He is the author of several books, the most recent of which are the small blue (2008), esp : accumulation sonnets (2009) and Other Poems (2010). He is also the author of several privately published editions, such as Lack Lyrics, which tied to win the 2008 bpNichol Chapbook Award. MillAr is the shadowy figure behind BookThug, a publishing house dedicated to exploratory work by well-known and emerging North American writers, as well as Apollinaire's Bookshoppe, a virtual bookstore that specializes in the books that no one wants to buy. Currently Jay teaches creative writing and poetics at George Brown College and Toronto New School of Writing, where he is also the co-director.

watercolour, by Marilyn Irwin

the lines kept you

drawn in

hanging segments

saturated coasts

bled watercolour

words coat words

fume fusion

suppress indigo

memory plasters

precise fingerprints

mere measurement

of space) (between) (space

the emptiness

that accompanies

fresh canvas

Marilyn Irwin partook in two of Ottawa poet rob mclennan’s poetry workshops in 2010, and graduated from Algonquin College’s Creative Writing Certificate Program this Spring. She self-published her first chapbook for when you pick daisies (2010) which was immediately re-issued by above/ground press. Extrapolated fragments of Marilyn’s musings can be found in issues of Bywords, Bywords Quarterly Journal, ottawater and Peter F. Yacht Club. This poem is from her second chapbook, flicker (above/ground press, 2012).

raw cantata, by Lary Bremner

-       for Peter Culley

.      sleepwalk endanger specify & loot    .

.      pack devour crystallize & stream    .

.      fallow moonlight garden & instrument    .

.      church swagger vibrate & corn    .

.      scan entrance agitate & lose    .

.      thrive remainder descend & layer    .

.      engender dilute regulate & chime    .

.   lush emanate loophole & quell   .

.   apprehend utilize recoil & feel   .

.   hightail aperture cutback & hurt   .

.   fuse muzzle violate & fault   .

.   author opiate venture & mentor   .

.   strangle capitulate era & entrap   .

.   frame disrupt mediate & disease    .

.   state demonize belittle & sever   .

.   ally delimit enable & undo   .

.   think rework camouflage & conceive   .

.   muck root scar & tissue   .

.   amass incubate parallel & trance   .

.   verify trust yearn & manifest   .

.   encounter remember pose & converge  .

.   kiss handle memorize & fail   .

.   rend forward retain & repair   .

.   submerge array scour & shape   .

.   overlay border spittle & ash   .

.   initiate endeavor mill & imagine   .

.   matrix bone extract & twist  .

.   chic iron archetype & meadow   .

.   double join story & grease  .

.   flatten revitalize diagram & surge  .

.   stone arppegiate rust & deport   .

.   flame approve grace & toil   .

.   earthen toward gospelize & scar  .

.   infiltrate unfurl disremember & shed  .

.   sing resurface shake & moon   .

.   pool fur breathe & recover   .

.   shadow spread wrinkle & foothill   .

.   feint crisscross think & scent   .

.   headwater sexualize walk &unite    .

.   record adobe rain & locate   .

.   halfway perfect bejeezus & blue   .

.   direct know apprentice & lurk   .

.   crank scorch slurry & rescind   .

.   illuminate loop horsehair & personify   .

.   tilt-a-whirl libido flash & point   .

.   fatigue rampart psyche & dust   .

.   gutter thug banter & expand   .

.   reason upside deepen & page   .

.   tooth sink derelict & wish   .

.   bleed scroll track & believe   .

.   bid slump comfort & core   .

.   forage shape accept & submit   .

.   rust actualize implode & chorus   .

.   guise figure heal & creep   .

.   surface fatten cohort & appellate   .

.   wash slacken mottle & descend   .                               

.   rank gown signify & clear   .

.   cycle flame adapt &hunger   .

.   night season soup & balm   .

.   cinder garden imbalance & sleep   .

.   err transistorize riddle & nutmeg   .

.   rust screen sample & hold  .

.   pucker skitter tackle & swab   .

.   spook misuse materialize & shine   .

.   spring bond atomize & flutter   .

.   scuffle thwart trellis & gulch   .

.   sob grime untangle & steam   .

.   cloud crack tryst & grace   .

.   filament tempo layer & love   .

.   strain maintain apprehend & peak   .

.   trap trove distrust & dream   .

.   gasp extend wither & snake   .

.   astound ribcage attenuate & tundra   .

.   riverbed exhale mean & begin   .

.   soul moor zenith & drip   .

.   drain withstand incline & cure   .

.   advocate infiltrate root & dispossess   .                        

.   hovel skin process & pronounce   .

.   milk pale booze & rafter   .

.   blush cup smooth & unbraid   .

.   toughen identify murmur & hide   .

.   gild pang age & lament   .

.   gash salve grind & zero   .

.   scratch scent sense & circle   .

.   blossom balloon lop-side & goop   .

.   crave rattle satiate & crave   .           

.   articulate emote muscle & network    .

.   configure crevasse crouch & conform   .

.   split sling segment & scope   .

.   cloud helmet pacify & dust   .

.   turquoise convert block & veil   .

.   bless bundle doodad & debris   .

.   originate tidal capacitate & lush   .

.   squint bow smudge & gristle   .

.   substantiate moccasin film & pod   .

.   exile recount basket & tide   .

.   brave perceive exchange & lure   .

.   fertilize tongue pulse & sage   .

.   pigment bubble idolize & raise   .

.   piccolo rampage ration & peel   .

.   sanctify water pounce & stone   .

.   sheet rubberize integrate & gulf   .

.   cleave thunder tenderize & toy   .                   

.   integrate hover distract & reverse   .

.   flex entangle template & time   .

.   scout bow weep & juice   .

.   speak practice blindfold & drop   .

.   demand holography argot & slash   .

.   prop mind invert & synonymize   .

.   fake catgut hunger & stem   .

.   harp concoct originate & wreck   .

.   consummate rumpus materialize & riff   .

.   use shamble personify & elucidate   .

.   embed neutralize bridge & market   .

.   freeze bark weft & hang   .

.   lush sculpt stitch & slump

.   retain burlap integrate & crush   .

.   reflect revise crescent & dog   .

.   blacken reserve font & foothill   .

.   undulate alchemize episode & erase

.   incorporate mock sham & dance   .

.   somnambulate tandem glass & flinch   .

.   ember accrue conduit & suffuse   .

.   underworld chalk orchard & dilute   .

.   soak plump calliope & wobble   .

.   cadence land decipher & sluice   .

.   sketch invert echo & amplify   .

.   dam amputate rearm & deliver   .

.   privatize intend die & recycle   .

.   break moss phrase & apprehend   .

.   study bulldoze snag & shadow   .

.   aside medicate terrorize & fable   .

.   accommodate mend discomfort & bloom   .

.   write proceed authenticate & work   .

     

A former member of Vancouver's Kootenay School of Writing, Lary Bremner was an early editor of the late 1980s and early 90s Vancouver publisher Tsunami Editions. He has published a number of titles under the name Lary Timewell, including recent works from his own Obvious Epiphanies. After years living in Japan, he recently returned to Vancouver.