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! Where There’s a Wall Both beauty and violence are just on the other side of the wall. I Am The speaker longs to escape himself and to find freedom from within and without Two Words: A Wedding bpNichol presents life as a river of ever-changing words and asks us to step in. Too Negative Have your friends’ parents ever warned them away from you because they thought you were a bad influence? “Too Negative” is a poem about that experience. Blank Sonnet Set in Halifax of the 1930s, this sensual, inebriated love poem plays with the sonnet form. Sonoma A dreamlike sense of the uncanny hangs over this poem of an encounter on a coastal highway. What Is Poetry Using only the letters in the title’s question, Holbrook generates a smorgasbord of weird and delightful answers. The Trick The body and the mind are intimately linked and cannot be divorced from each other. From Red Doc In this poem-as-a-conversation, a man and his mother consider how the past lives on in the present. Passing into Storm Through an objective lens, this poem, which could be a trailer for a horror movie, describes a white man deliberately walking into a snow storm. To what end? i am graffiti This poem vibrates with anger and defiance in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Community Garden Seeking to escape internet trolls the speaker turns her eye to the garden Dear Updike Evelyn Lau powerfully describes the world around her in order to grieve the loss of a beloved writer. Reluctance Even after you’ve jumped all the fences, climbed all the hills, and looked at the world, it can be hard to accept how you feel… How Not to Spill Do you hold your hands shut, or do you let everything spill out? From One and Half of You Trying on traditional clothing and finding how it fits. Or not. The Lonely Land In this free verse poem, snapshots of a wild landscape show that beauty and conflict are not mutually exclusive — and that one may be derived from the other. My sister cries the sea In this poem of environmental apocalypse, Mordecai pictures a divided planet as her sister, listening to the voices of plants and fish as they mourn habitat destruction in creole At the Centre In this poem of a woman in deep repose, her seeds of self-care begin to blossom. Weed Killer Fiona Tinwei Lam moves from personal to universal and back to the personal in this chilling poem about the ecological destruction bequeathed from one generation to the next. World Town Layers of memory paint a moving, vibrant portrait of one man’s time spent in a seaside town with his father. 1992 Sometimes a scent or a site or a taste can sweep you up into the past. This finely honed narrative poem knows what that’s like. Beat! Beat! Drums! With rich bombastic language and Whitman's trademark sprawling lines, this poem rallies troops for war. grass In his short, funny poem, Ward Maxwell asks us to step on the grass, saying “it deserves it.” But isn’t that the point of grass? Chemo Side Effects: Memory The stop-start, grasping form of this poem mirrors the speaker's struggle to reconcile herself with one of the side effects of cancer treatment. from Cross River . Pick Lotus Sometimes a simple wish granted, especially a final one, can change everything. Regardless This vibrant list poem celebrates the right to just Be. Death of a Young Son by Drowning Blurring time but clarifying feeling, this poem gives voice to a mother who loses a son and gains a country. Guanahani, 11 This bracing ballad (re)considers the beauty and history of the Caribbean island where Christopher Columbus first landed. 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. Not the Music In Not in the Music, Crozier explores the inviolable: the sacred parts of ourselves that we cherish as personal sanctuaries. Plenty Who would have thought a trip to the grocery store could be so full of beauty? fluorine Rita Wong uncovers the poisons in everyday life to teach us about our relationship to the natural world. Northern Light A poem about belonging when one doesn't feel like they are completely at home I Have Something to Tell You In this surreal poem, a man made of cameras brings his unexpected concerns into sharper focus. 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. Letters In this tender poem tracing a lost love, the speaker holds on by letting things go… I’ll Teach You Cree By sharing with us the untranslatable aspects of Cree culture, Scofield immerses the reader with the sensorial experiences that deepen the bonds of community. The Days of the Unicorns Phyllis Webb beautifully writes an ode to the majestic unicorn. Laurentian Shield This portrait of a rocky, silent Canadian landscape speaks to the country’s limitations and its potential. Pagination 1 2 3 4 Next › Next page Last » Last page Language English