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! aubade for the BPD subreddit user who wrote can people with BPD love? The stunningly cruel comments of an internet forum reverberate throughout a sleepless night The Trick The body and the mind are intimately linked and cannot be divorced from each other. 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. Laurentian Shield This portrait of a rocky, silent Canadian landscape speaks to the country’s limitations and its potential. The Tyger In the woods at night, the speaker talks to a magical animal… The Potato Harvest This lonely poem is about so much more than a bare field. I Have Not Lingered in European Monasteries By telling us what he hasn’t done, this poem’s speaker reveals his spiritual ambitions. Blank Sonnet Set in Halifax of the 1930s, this sensual, inebriated love poem plays with the sonnet form. We Wear the Mask We Wear the Mask is a resilient and entrancing tug-of-war with external perceptions of self. susiya Music binds and refreshes community Money A museum coin collection prompts a reflection on the captivating nature of currency. from “Road Shoulders” the shoulder of the road gleams with the poet's attention For My Best Friend One way to grieve is to give tribute, perhaps even before the person you are grieving is completely gone. Five Postcards from Jericho Postcards to regret, to time, to anyone at all 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. Full Metal Oji-Cree That’s ok, our robomocassins will outlive you nine times over. 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. Vancouver Lights This wartime poem looks out at Vancouver’s nighttime skyline and contemplates humanity. 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. The Powwow at the End of the World Sherman Alexie slams the environmental destruction of settler-colonialism as we travel on an upstream course towards the powwow at the end of the world. 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? Modestine A woman writes a tender poem about her dad’s struggle with dementia. I Lost My Talk How can you speak your deepest truth in a language that doesn’t understand you? 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. Letters In this tender poem tracing a lost love, the speaker holds on by letting things go… An Innocent Little Girl • Favzieh Rahgozar Barlas captures a snapshot of child marriage, its cultural and economic context, and its physical and emotional aftermath. From One and Half of You Trying on traditional clothing and finding how it fits. Or not. Marshlands Quietly pause to take in the colours and sounds of a marsh. 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 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. Sweet Like a Crow This tumbling, outrageous list poem is a backhanded ode to a child’s less-than-melodious singing voice. I Am The speaker longs to escape himself and to find freedom from within and without Good Day Villanelle Is this a painful poem about a funny memory, or a funny poem about a painful memory? Sonoma A dreamlike sense of the uncanny hangs over this poem of an encounter on a coastal highway. 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.” A Breakfast for Barbarians Come sit at this mythical table where guests eat the world’s mysteries for breakfast. 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. I Feel the Sun This poem articulates the poet’s intense feeling about the sunlight after going through a long winter. Poor Speaker Yep, the speaker gets what you're trying to say Language English