These poems each have a set of guided questions, related videos that allow for deeper investigation, and suggested writing activities. We'll be adding more poems here soon! Regardless This vibrant list poem celebrates the right to just Be. Pale Blue Cover In this nostalgic poem, the speaker reminisces about the author Matt Cohen. Un Docteur Anglophone Traduit Les Inquiétudes De Son Patient Avec Google/An English Speaking Doctor Translates the Concerns of his Patient with Google This bilingual poem expresses the limitations of understanding across languages when experiences become lost in translation. These Poems, She Said Can an argument be the foundation of a love poem? Robert Bringhurst certainly thinks so! But I’m No One But I’m No one is a reflection on our tendency to fear death and the manifestation of this fear through uncanny beliefs. Sometimes a Voice (1) On a hot summer afternoon, Danny jumped off the boathouse roof without thinking of the consequences. Mantra of No Return It is possible to travel home when one has never been there. This poem does. We Wear the Mask We Wear the Mask is a resilient and entrancing tug-of-war with external perceptions of self. The Trick The body and the mind are intimately linked and cannot be divorced from each other. From thirsty In this delicate and brutal poem, the line between the speaker’s body and the city of Toronto blurs. Two Hours on the Train In this deceptively simple poem, a poet on a journey transcends time. World Town Layers of memory paint a moving, vibrant portrait of one man’s time spent in a seaside town with his father. Two Words: A Wedding bpNichol presents life as a river of ever-changing words and asks us to step in. niya A physical encounter with a stranger ignites a fire of emotions about how to express the trauma of settlement and life in a colonial, urban environment. i am graffiti This poem vibrates with anger and defiance in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Common Magic Do you ever wonder how anything gets done when we’re all swirling in our own galaxies of thought and experience? This poem does too. Tide Both stark and tender, this poem is about Reena Virk, a BC teen of South Asian descent who was assaulted and murdered by her peers in 1997. Application Form Identity is elusive. Maybe it doesn’t exist at all. Before the Birth of One of Her Children This frank, devout poem confronts the risks facing a 17th-century woman in childbirth. From One and Half of You Trying on traditional clothing and finding how it fits. Or not. Laurentian Shield This portrait of a rocky, silent Canadian landscape speaks to the country’s limitations and its potential. Low Tide on Grand Pré The setting sun gives rise to a treasured memory of Grand Pré in this somber, rhythmic poem. For My Best Friend One way to grieve is to give tribute, perhaps even before the person you are grieving is completely gone. The Bow What flows through a name, and a name, and a name? from Cross River . Pick Lotus Sometimes a simple wish granted, especially a final one, can change everything. Insomnia A dark, playful twist on what someone would do if they could only sleep… fluorine Rita Wong uncovers the poisons in everyday life to teach us about our relationship to the natural world. The New Experience Join the speaker on a whirlwind journey towards a surprising realization. The Fatigue Fatigue is often the first sign something is wrong with one's body. Fatigue looms larger than life in this poem which grapples with meds, family, and coping. Poor Speaker Yep, the speaker gets what you're trying to say people arrived Tracing and traveling with Kaie Kellough’s verse, the people in this poem plead to have their pulses read out loud. Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong In this tender poem of healing, care and remembrance, Ocean Vuong reaches out to his younger self. The Blue Guitar In this glosa poem, P.K. Page strums out questions about being an artist and telling the truth. Other In Other, Livesay breaks free of patriarchy’s hold and ventures into landscapes of mountain, cedar forests, night skies, and the fierce interior of her spirit. I Feel the Sun This poem articulates the poet’s intense feeling about the sunlight after going through a long winter. Opus 75, Sestina in B-flat for the Glockenspiel A silent glockenspiel plays out a teenage girl’s anxieties about growing up and fitting in. The ABG (Able-Bodied Gaze) The abled-bodied gaze is an intrusive force in this poem, making a spectacle of a disabled body and attempting to reduce them to their impairment. The Tyger In the woods at night, the speaker talks to a magical animal… Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen brilliantly uses rhyme and meter in this brutal poem about a poison gas attack during WWI. Sweet Like a Crow This tumbling, outrageous list poem is a backhanded ode to a child’s less-than-melodious singing voice. Language English