In their black in dark hours, grandmothers crawl up the Way of the Cross, proclaiming by this deed, the immutable glory to come above Ajijic, knees raw, backs craggy, grandmothers and mountains bathe in Easter sunrise. Where the body shivers and aches, the spirit must step in. Where language and history differ, there too, spirit….
Tag: community
Camino Edmonton Day 2: Crossing
whitemud winds down brown and peaty, and on the boardwalk through willow breaks squirrel on a handrail, happy to eat offerings but quick to leap away – there is a line. below fort edmonton, in the forest, we discuss old names, dark histories how to teach and learn past potholes slippery with falling how to…
When The Way Seems Long
When the way seems long, or any burden heavy, we have songs Witness how love and courage lift and reweave the broken strands Ue O Muite Arukou, by Kyu Sakamoto, was a huge hit in 1961, and the English version – ridiculously titled ‘Sukiyaki,’ which is a bit like translating, for example, Unchained…
Podcast Up!
Recently, I had the most delicious privilege of spending an evening as the guest of Let’s Get Lit* – Have a listen! * I was their Alcohol-Free special edition, ’cause I’m truly just that square! And ’cause being part of such a sweet, hilarious and warm-hearted community just lights me up!
I didn’t think I was that poor until I came to grad school: dentalium and dreams beyond the university
On wealth that matters, the eloquence of Erica Violet Lee.
For the Changing Moon: thoughts on Poems&Songs
My new book is out. The publisher-endorsed launch happened Wednesday, October 24th, 7 PM at Audrey’s Books, with special guests Edmonton’s own Spoken Word Youth Choir, under the direction of the fabulous Gail Sobat. This is book number two, yes, only number two. The long years of discussion and consideration of what it costs to…
Death Tango for Three: the Podcast
Last winter, Argentinian born poet and art historian Luciana Erregue-Sacchi invited two writers – myself and the fabulous Nermeen Youssef – to join her on a quest, to encounter, perform and respond to Paul Célan’s masterpiece, the Todesfuge/Death Tango. Over the course of an incredible night, we shared our hearts and minds, resonating like bells…
Bake Bread, Make Friends – article up at New Trail magazine
This summer, I had the delightful task of researching and writing a little article for my alma mater, University of Alberta. It’s the home page opener at their site, and I couldn’t be more chuffed. Our Daily Bread Now, I’m off to bake bread.
A Table, A Room, A Coffee, A Cat: How the Writing Half Lives
We all know the two stereotypes of how writers live: starving in a Dickensian garret, or swanning about in a mansion, courted by the power elites. However, in Canada, in 2018, how do real writers really live? What’s ‘home’ for us? What follows is an extremely non-exhaustive exploration: I asked some working writers. Their answers…
Leash and Carriage
yesterday in sherwood park, our rough hewn hounds pound past cossetted furbabies, jacketed and lifted from the snow/ice/salt when their tender paws grow weary their humans wheel them home in strollers they chuckle wryly, we burl on, both sides too refined to strain at judgment’s leash. today on avenue of nations, i spy another…
Unfettered: Good Night,Good Luck
This essay was written in 2016, when the Edmonton Journal cut its staff so severely, part of the Postmedia move to ‘consolidate’ newsrooms across the land. I didn’t publish it then; an acquaintance who works in journalism pointed out that it was a raw moment for everyone ‘in the field’ and not the time for…
Shallow Dreams
I live in the North, where we set fire to the future as we burn the past. I live in the Shadow of the Elephant, that bawdy collection of vicious history and bepuffed expectations, that demands we nod along with the trumpeting falsehood that the best of them is the entirety of them. This…
Prairiepomes 