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! Fear of Snakes The life of a snake and the memory of girlhood trauma are told in sinuously entwined language. Plenty Who would have thought a trip to the grocery store could be so full of beauty? Let the Ponies Out In this poem, a dramatic monologue, the speaker implores their father to do something both real and more real in its imagining. dont worry yr hair Having a bad day? This uplifting poem about the power of our inner potential should light a spark. Sturgeon Karen Solie’s poem “Sturgeon” invites us to consider the power lurking beneath the surface of those things we might dismiss or even find repulsive. A Breakfast for Barbarians Come sit at this mythical table where guests eat the world’s mysteries for breakfast. susiya Music binds and refreshes community From Red Doc In this poem-as-a-conversation, a man and his mother consider how the past lives on in the present. I Am The speaker longs to escape himself and to find freedom from within and without another set of instructions An abstract musing on world-building, becoming, water and rebirth. A poem that asks you to pay attention to your surroundings and yourself. In Flanders Fields The dead summon us to action in this much-beloved poem of war. Two Hours on the Train In this deceptively simple poem, a poet on a journey transcends time. Where There’s a Wall Both beauty and violence are just on the other side of the wall. I Feel the Sun This poem articulates the poet’s intense feeling about the sunlight after going through a long winter. 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. Top The poet remembers a father lost long before his death. The Potato Harvest This lonely poem is about so much more than a bare field. At the Centre In this poem of a woman in deep repose, her seeds of self-care begin to blossom. Money A museum coin collection prompts a reflection on the captivating nature of currency. Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen brilliantly uses rhyme and meter in this brutal poem about a poison gas attack during WWI. sturgeon Intense with empathy, the poem places poet and struggling fish in direct physical relation. From Correspondences Anne Michaels challenges us to find new maps to think about old experiences. Picking Up a Dandelion A short and poignant poem, stretching out a brief moment of beauty. From the Catalogue of Cruelty “From the Catalogue of Cruelty” reminisces on a series of hurtful acts the speaker committed in her childhood and folds in generational violence, state violence, and Greek myth. 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. from Exhibits from the American Water Museum Natalie Diaz mourns the violence committed against the Mojave people (and by extension, Indigenous people across North America) and bodies of water, inextricably connected Vancouver Lights This wartime poem looks out at Vancouver’s nighttime skyline and contemplates humanity. Yellowjacket “Yellowjacket” explores the eerie way the dead make themselves at home in our lives. the ghosts of women once girls Poet Aja Monet reveals both gladness and sadness from a little girl enraptured by literature. Not the Music In Not in the Music, Crozier explores the inviolable: the sacred parts of ourselves that we cherish as personal sanctuaries. i am graffiti This poem vibrates with anger and defiance in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. fluorine Rita Wong uncovers the poisons in everyday life to teach us about our relationship to the natural world. Two Words: A Wedding bpNichol presents life as a river of ever-changing words and asks us to step in. 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? Mantra of No Return It is possible to travel home when one has never been there. This poem does. Pale Blue Cover In this nostalgic poem, the speaker reminisces about the author Matt Cohen. Community Garden Seeking to escape internet trolls the speaker turns her eye to the garden 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. Five Postcards from Jericho Postcards to regret, to time, to anyone at all A Fixed Idea Musical and haunting, Amy Lowell’s “A Fixed Idea” is a sonnet that speaks to pain and conflict. Pagination 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next › Next page Last » Last page Language English