June 2016 – Prairiepomes

1986: the stereo stand

it was 1986 and my brother had made a stereo stand it was crap, frankly, a cry of despair if you knew how to read such things, but i didn’t. we just liked having a stereo stand because of course, my sister had a stereo she also had me, and her old pal as room…

1985

It was 1985, and the world was new, blah blah blah we’ve been over this before, in a thousand poems since my father died. but did i tell you? i was in the bathroom when they came for us and so, came back to the waiting room to find them gone, had to find mom…

No Masterpiece: On Finding One Drum

Here’s the essay i wrote for Edmonton Arts Council’s 2015 Annual Report (pg. 11). Lots of other good stuff in this issue, too. But as for my piece, it took a while to know what to write. After all, it turns out (a little to my surprise) that my practice could be accurately described as…

Guitar Boys and Girls

It is a fact of life: Boys use guitars for sex. If you are a guitar girl, you’ll be approached by boys who will treat your guitar as an avatar for your body. Simple, obvious. What i’d tell my sons, if i had any, would be: Rock Goddom is the manifestation of sexual slavery,…

Tawatinâ Bridge Song

Recently, i was asked to present poetry at a workshop for the shortlisted artists in line for a major city commission – art for the Tawatinâ* Bridge, which will bring a new LRT line across our river and down through the Millwoods community. If you know Edmonton, you know how big this connection is; if you…