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& the War Was in Its Infancy Then

By the time I looked over my shoulder, the sun had already fallen.

A Childhood in Four Acts

End of October, days recede quickly into night. Leaves fall in slow motion.

A Final Conversation

I used bravado to protect myself when we lived in poverty.

A Happy Marriage

How different they were; how comfortable he was that.

A Hard Blessing

Alone but one year sober and my parole’s nearly done.

A Lot Going On Up There

The hawk moves out of the way to let a little hot package of breath rise up.

A Master at Work

Man is always beginning everything anew, even in his own life.

A Small Blip on an Eternal Timeline

I grabbed him by the face and told him life only comes to a person once.

A Smile of Fortune

She favoured me with an even more viciously scornful “Don’t care!”

A Word, Please

Adolescence

I’ll see you on the sea, they say, but then they float past on a raft

Advice for a Young Painter

Identify where you came from, where you are, and where you wish to go.

Amazement

He fell to the floor and begged the gods. The gods were silent.

Ann Beattie

Anniversary of You

Why not keep singing when another car pulls up to the light?

Arguing with Myself

“You need me,” says the mind. “I just want what’s best for you.”

At the End of the World

This body is all I have, I say. Some days it is still not enough.

Babylon Sister

Ah, yes, Rita reminded herself: I won. Her Mistress of Mayhem award.

Badger Mountain

Keely finally stops crying when they step outside. The shock of cold.

Badlands

We imagined the train routes through the heart of the country.

Barbie Chang Poems

Some days Barbie Chang wants to hang up her Asian boots.

Barbie Chang’s Daughter Asks

Barbie Chang asks why the evil one always has black hair.

Bear with Me

Why does she do it? She knows cutting yourself is a joke. Goth, idiotic.

Beautiful Daughters

I hate it here, but I’ll make the best of it, because that’s what mothers do.

Best Advice

My advice can be succinctly expressed in three words: Persist, persist, persist!

Bishop’s Lace Grows Rampant

He phones from across the country after lying in the grass with another.

Bonsai

My father was neither kind nor strong in his bruising.

Bread

When we’re all together like this it feels like hope is a possibility.

Camphor

No one tells you what it sounds like out in the streets when bullets clang.

Carried Away

I’m a theatrical lyricist. I would never choose to look fat in public.