… today: a gem . The past few days I have been loitering, deep in thought about a poem that moves through 5 different phases, each structurally different from the rest, and I had the desire to read more essays on poetry, about poetry, about who makes poetry (either that or I was getting bored with my own inadequate thoughts). I looked through my shelves of papers and found a few dusty essays magazines and was going to brush them off and give them a read, when luckily in the mail my copy of ARC Magazine’s latest issue, Canada’s Forgotten and Neglected Issue was awaiting my perusal. I’ve been reading almost non-stop since. I’m surprised and delighted with the essays and the poetry. I’m of the same mind as Aislinn Hunter when she asks why we can’t have a Canadian poetry archive that is easily accessible countrywide. I agree that there are many poets that get left out from the “popular” canons, and that accessibility would be key factor in re-accessing our poetry heritage.

That said, I was reminded today of the book I’d purchased at a used bookstore in Saskatoon a few years ago by a woman I wasn’t familiar with, Martha Ostenso. She was born in Norway and eventually settled with her family in Manitoba. The book I have is A Far Land published in 1924 by Thomas Seltzer, NY. It’s seen a bit of wear (the binding is pretty much shot, and many of the pages are written on in ink). I find it an interesting book, and a small snapshot of Canadian poetic history, although she moved back to the US shortly after the publication of this book.

I’ll share the title poem and one other (because they’re short and I’m too lazy to type lots tonight), both from the above mentioned book (I don’t know if this is legal or not, but I’m doing it anyway). I find it interesting how she utilizes repetition (in many of her other poems as well) dramatically, and thus she enhances the sound of the poem.

The Far Land

Dark cannot blot the dark
In the place I know,
Rain cannot drown the rain,
Wind cannot blow
The wind of that stormed land,
Where stillness falls
On sudden wings, like a band
Of quiet birds on ruined walls.

Rain from My Window

Rain is sweeping my front garden. Walk,
Wall, and gate, new grass and tulip bed
Ripple and gleam as the silver broom
Brushes them in swinging, gusty curves.
The gate-posts are vanishing ghosts that loom
High into the lost air. Bees have fled
And grasshoppers, quick-voiced, no longer talk
Within the shallow green of smooth-clipped grass
That leans away to let the sweeper pass.
Satin-collared tulips, fearing stain,
Lay their vesture broad upon the rain
And stiffen like jade wax their frail stems.
The pane is fretted so with running gems
That I can no longer watch this blurred
Silver world the silver rain has stirred.

…I’ve been doing something totally off the beaten path in life–writing poetry. Go figure. So, to appease the blog-hungry folks out there who demand/desire to see a post (Rhett) I’m going to give you a poem that I’ve recently written, and when I say recent, it’s still in a draft phase, so any comments on improving it are welcome. This poem is a part of the recent trip of poems, but it doesn’t quite fit with the ms I’m working on.

the girl in the station

catches the eye of everyone waiting
for a train, stalled by minutes that overlap
toes ticking shoes clicking on the tile

one foot after another pacing
blood’s rooting rhythm inside our skin
light flashes from outside in

her glittery studded collar
society’s leash tightening the jeweled pulse
behavior in bad custody

a working girl’s manner of dress
shabby stockings, dark hair
dollish and battered she is

supported by a man with a bandaged nose
someone as nervous as I
when her head bangs

against her chest, the unknown
drug cruising her veins
like these trains we travel

on the quest to write
the world needling a point deep
into fixed tracks that grip

day’s anesthetized dance of one
to one, shuffled in a constant
narrowing where the past

struggles to find an empty seat
on what we leave before
forever shrinking behind

…to the publishing world regarding the sale and distribution of poetry books? I’ve recently read several instances of books not being sent by distributors–books missing in action (and these being newly released, which one assumes will be marketed and sold in some methodical manner).

What has happened to the shelves of poetry I once used to peruse at book stores? I don’t mind a book store needing to make money by carrying the occasional novelty item, the occasional desk-top make-your-life-easier container type of item, nor do I mind bookstores selling the wonderful mocha coffee I’m so horribly addicted to, but I do mind the fact that the poetry section gets smaller and smaller, the once solid contingent slipping between the cracks of some CEO’s decision to sell housewares and other such intimate objects rather than books.


The poetry section in both Chapters and the smaller, though more homey Book and Brier keep shrinking their poetry shelves. On a rainy day such as today, the thought of spending an hour or two picking a poetry book from the shelves has lessened to become a ten minute annoyance. After I peruse my way to the out-of-the way corner where the poetry books are hid from consumers, probably so they aren’t frightened by the thought of poetry, I thread my way through the glossy, mass produced books of joy and meditative poetry for everyday thoughts and occasions, before I come to the one shelf of Canadian poetry, on which I might find the Griffin shortlist from 2005, one copy of Anne Simpson’s Loop, and 5 copies of newest Leonard Cohen. Now, this meager selection is an exaggeration, of course, but as a poetry reader/writer, my selection is already quite large, and when I go shopping for a book, I would like to find something that catches my breath, my eye, my curiosity, my interest, and is something I don’t already own, something Canadian, something published recently, something real I can open and close. A book of poems by a Canadian author.

Why is that so hard to find???????????

The clerks at the store tell me I can order these books online, or from the store, and have them delivered right to the store for pickup (in fact, I often do order many books online, but usually ones that I can’t find in the store, or I know they won’t carry in the store). That’s not the point I tell them. This is a book store. I want to peek into the pages of the book, gather 5 in my hands and stand before the cashier like a contestant on a game show (door #1, door #2, or door #3) and try to pick one or the other, or as is known to happen, simply buy all of the above. But choice is something I thought we had at a bookstore. I want to look as much as I want to buy.

As I write this I’m thinking that probably what will happen next is that the poetry sections in libraries will also start shrinking. We’ll have to place our order weeks in advance so they can find the one lone copy of a poetry book for you to borrow.

Sure, this is a rant that can be applied to much of the published industry, and probably more than publishing, but as I sit back home on my computer drinking my no-name tea, I’m getting fed up with stores marketing nothing but their own brand of store.

…is the day I walk across the stage after listening to a round of inspiring speeches and receive my BA Hons in English. The letters have been behind my name for the past 4 months, but having the piece of paper that says it is so, will solidify my relationship with my academic career. The time (6.5 years–if you don’t count the fact that I enrolled when I was 17 (and didn’t go to my classes)) actually flew by rather fast. There were times when I never thought I’d get done, times where the classes were overwhelming (Logic 100–it was formal logic (ech!)) and the full-time work/family just didn’t seem to mesh. There were times where I thought I’d never survive ( June 2004). But, alas in reflection, I lean back in my computer chair, type these words and think, it wasn’t that hard. It wasn’t that bad. In fact, maybe it was just right.

The ceremony is a bit subdued for me as I’m continuing on with my academic career by pursuing a MA in English with a Creative Thesis, a new program offered by the University of Regina this fall. I’m looking forward to the new program and the chance to be one of the first ones to dip my toes into the academic/creative creation. I’m hoping I remember how to swim by the time fall comes around. But, as I think right now, how hard can it be?

that I received from Amy Nelson Mile.

( I decided it was “ate”)

The rules are as follows:• Each player creates a list of eight random personal facts/habits.
• At the end of your post, list eight people who you want to tag to also do this meme.
• People who are tagged will write their own list of eight personal facts/habits and, if they have a blog of their own, post these rules and their list.

8 RANDOM FACTS (A Short Poem by Tracy)

Insist that I prefer pop-tarts untoasted

drink Fresca

buy vast varieties of tea, but rarely drink it

waste time eating lime and chili peanuts
plant over 30 tomato plants every spring

preserve my own pickles and salsa

still love the feel of fresh earth between my fingers when planting seeds

while always forgeting to be thankful for everything I have.

8 people I tag:

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Sinclair Trudeau Kemper

Don Delillo

David Foster Wallace

Jorie Graham

Helen Mirren

Amy Hempel

…I recently had to move my business from one location to another, I looked up barbering poems on the net. I found this poem. There doesn’t seem to be many poems about hairstyling out there (good ones anyway). Hmmm…

…over at Bookninja!

And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea–T.S. Eliot

Time to head off to the nearest sanctuary and write, or time to head to the Sage Hill of Lumsden and if you’re in a time crunch here’s something new this year at St. Peter’s College:

NEW Summer Workshops

Study writing and photography in extraordinary ways.

This summer, St. Peter’s College welcomes the Poet Laureate of Halifax, Lorri Neilsen Glenn, as our Guest Author in Residence.

Lorri is the author and editor of nine books, including Combustion (Brick Books, 2007). She has taught writing workshops, courses, and retreats across Canada, in Australia and in Ireland. Her poetry, essays, and research have won several national and international awards. This spring, Lorri was nominated by her Faculty for the Mount Saint Vincent Innovative Teaching Award.

Join us this summer by attending our writing workshops with innovative instructors Lorri, Sheri Benning, Anne McDonald, and

Allan Neilsen.

Lorri Neilsen Glenn

SPC Guest Author in Residence

2007 Summer Workshops

Improv and Narrative (A. McDonald) July 20 & 21

Those who can, do: Writing for Teachers (L. Neilsen Glenn) July 22-27

Writing your Life (L. Neilsen Glenn) July 28-29

Wordfishing: Wading into Poetry (L. Neilsen Glenn) Aug. 7-10

Word & Eye: Contemplative Photography & Poetry

(L. Neilsen Glenn & Allan Neilsen) Aug. 10-12

Nature Writing & the Lyrical Essay (Sheri Benning) Aug. 13-16

Register Today

Earlybirds! Register by June 16 $125 to $195

Regular Tuition Register by July 13 $195 to $265

On-campus Accommodations & Meals* $30/night & $22/day*

BONUS! Workshops can be applied to the Writing Diploma.

For more information:

writinginpractice@stpeters.sk.ca

…I was lucky enough to attend the recording of Yann Martel’s The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios. The reading was performed by Skye Brandon. Although it was a small crowd gathered in Studio One with Kelley-Jo Burke (thanks again for letting us be a part of the audience), the reading was one of the best 60 minutes I’ve ever spent. I hadn’t read the stories before, but thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The recording airs in early December so set your calendars now. It’s worth listening to Brandon’s reading, Martel’s words, and Annette and I laughing, crying, and clapping.

…I’m still here. I’ve been reading lots of fiction lately, most notably The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel. Also re-read Elizabeth Bachinsky Home of Sudden Service.

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Late breaking news (at least for my closet). The Winners in the mall one block from my house is closing. My wardrobe is in mourning (although this will probably mean great sales from now until then).