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! Letters In this tender poem tracing a lost love, the speaker holds on by letting things go… Two Hours on the Train In this deceptively simple poem, a poet on a journey transcends time. I Am The speaker longs to escape himself and to find freedom from within and without I Have Not Lingered in European Monasteries By telling us what he hasn’t done, this poem’s speaker reveals his spiritual ambitions. The Bull Moose A moose's final, tortured moments unfold in a series of brutal images. Insomnia A dark, playful twist on what someone would do if they could only sleep… 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. Sometimes a Voice (1) On a hot summer afternoon, Danny jumped off the boathouse roof without thinking of the consequences. In Flanders Fields The dead summon us to action in this much-beloved poem of war. Editing the Prairie If the prairie was a written story, imagine the rejection letter it might get! Dear Updike Evelyn Lau powerfully describes the world around her in order to grieve the loss of a beloved writer. 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. Before the Birth of One of Her Children This frank, devout poem confronts the risks facing a 17th-century woman in childbirth. 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… Pale Blue Cover In this nostalgic poem, the speaker reminisces about the author Matt Cohen. Sweet Like a Crow This tumbling, outrageous list poem is a backhanded ode to a child’s less-than-melodious singing voice. Fear of Snakes The life of a snake and the memory of girlhood trauma are told in sinuously entwined language. Poor Speaker Yep, the speaker gets what you're trying to say A Breakfast for Barbarians Come sit at this mythical table where guests eat the world’s mysteries for breakfast. For My Best Friend One way to grieve is to give tribute, perhaps even before the person you are grieving is completely gone. Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong In this tender poem of healing, care and remembrance, Ocean Vuong reaches out to his younger self. 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. sturgeon Intense with empathy, the poem places poet and struggling fish in direct physical relation. From One and Half of You Trying on traditional clothing and finding how it fits. Or not. 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? What Is Poetry Using only the letters in the title’s question, Holbrook generates a smorgasbord of weird and delightful answers. The New Experience Join the speaker on a whirlwind journey towards a surprising realization. Beat! Beat! Drums! With rich bombastic language and Whitman's trademark sprawling lines, this poem rallies troops for war. Not the Music In Not in the Music, Crozier explores the inviolable: the sacred parts of ourselves that we cherish as personal sanctuaries. My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears A clash of cultures in a department store bathroom showcases pride and power in the towns matrons as well as the space in the middle where the speaker lives Declaration of Intent Rita Wong invokes the "sacred bond" of water in this poem that invites us to learn from watersheds, and to act in their defense. Fast Commute Laurie Graham weathers an incongruous ice storm in this poem-excerpt that asks us to pause and understand that we are present here, “and with this understanding to start to hear.” Buen Esqueleto With its allusions and repetitions, “Buen Esqueleto” speaks powerfully on behalf of families caught in the contemporary U.S. border conflict. “Breathe dust…” Nearly punctuation-free, this is a breathless journey through memories of a youth spent in rural Canada. 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. Blank Sonnet Set in Halifax of the 1930s, this sensual, inebriated love poem plays with the sonnet form. dont worry yr hair Having a bad day? This uplifting poem about the power of our inner potential should light a spark. 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? i am graffiti This poem vibrates with anger and defiance in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Thou Poem A poet reveals the happiest and unhappiest parts of their poetry – in conversation with a poem. Language English