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! 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. 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. 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. The Swimmer’s Moment Will you choose to observe from the rim of the whirlpool, or its centre? Letters In this tender poem tracing a lost love, the speaker holds on by letting things go… Beat! Beat! Drums! With rich bombastic language and Whitman's trademark sprawling lines, this poem rallies troops for war. Thou Poem A poet reveals the happiest and unhappiest parts of their poetry – in conversation with a poem. fluorine Rita Wong uncovers the poisons in everyday life to teach us about our relationship to the natural world. Plenty Who would have thought a trip to the grocery store could be so full of beauty? Salmon Courage Deep bravery can emerge amid clashing familial hopes and truths. M. NourbeSe Philip shows us how. Full Metal Oji-Cree That’s ok, our robomocassins will outlive you nine times over. I Am The speaker longs to escape himself and to find freedom from within and without One Art When loss feels inevitable, sometimes the only thing to do is write it down… I Feel the Sun This poem articulates the poet’s intense feeling about the sunlight after going through a long winter. Fear of Snakes The life of a snake and the memory of girlhood trauma are told in sinuously entwined language. My Brother at 3 A.M. A pervasive sense of paranoia threads itself through the quiet night of this poem. 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. Journey of the Magi One of the three wise men who travelled to Bethlehem upon the birth of Jesus Christ describes his version of the story and the emotional upheaval he experiences from witnessing a miracle that shatters his previous beliefs and way of life. from Cross River . Pick Lotus Sometimes a simple wish granted, especially a final one, can change everything. A Stone Diary A love poem to a stone takes on deeper, rockier meanings. From Correspondences Anne Michaels challenges us to find new maps to think about old experiences. 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. These Poems, She Said Can an argument be the foundation of a love poem? Robert Bringhurst certainly thinks so! Not the Music In Not in the Music, Crozier explores the inviolable: the sacred parts of ourselves that we cherish as personal sanctuaries. In Flanders Fields The dead summon us to action in this much-beloved poem of war. 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. From One and Half of You Trying on traditional clothing and finding how it fits. Or not. From thirsty In this delicate and brutal poem, the line between the speaker’s body and the city of Toronto blurs. Poor Speaker Yep, the speaker gets what you're trying to say I Have Something to Tell You In this surreal poem, a man made of cameras brings his unexpected concerns into sharper focus. 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. The Trick The body and the mind are intimately linked and cannot be divorced from each other. the ghosts of women once girls Poet Aja Monet reveals both gladness and sadness from a little girl enraptured by literature. At the Centre In this poem of a woman in deep repose, her seeds of self-care begin to blossom. Community Garden Seeking to escape internet trolls the speaker turns her eye to the garden 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. The Tyger In the woods at night, the speaker talks to a magical animal… I Lost My Talk How can you speak your deepest truth in a language that doesn’t understand you? Gayatri A selfie with no one in it surprisingly captures the magic of a childhood friendship. Language English