Dive In | Poetry in Voice

At the Centre

In this poem of a woman in deep repose, her seeds of self-care begin to blossom.

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.

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.

Picking Up a Dandelion

A short and poignant poem, stretching out a brief moment of beauty.

The Visions of Stone Carrier

In this dreamlike piece exploring memory and primogeniture, N. Scott Momaday casts a haunting spell that transports the reader through mystery and reminiscence.

A Breakfast for Barbarians

Come sit at this mythical table where guests eat the world’s mysteries for breakfast.

The Swimmer’s Moment

Will you choose to observe from the rim of the whirlpool, or its centre?

Pale Blue Cover

In this nostalgic poem, the speaker reminisces about the author Matt Cohen.

Homage to the Mineral of the Onion (I)

Could a vegetable be the antidote to war? This poem thinks so.

Laurentian Shield

This portrait of a rocky, silent Canadian landscape speaks to the country’s limitations and its potential.

Low Tide on Grand Pré

The setting sun gives rise to a treasured memory of Grand Pré in this somber, rhythmic poem.

Marshlands

Quietly pause to take in the colours and sounds of a marsh.

Famous

In Famous, Naomi Nye speaks to the relationship between objects and the ideas they represent. She is as famous to the poem as the poem is famous its words.

i am graffiti

This poem vibrates with anger and defiance in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The Potato Harvest

This lonely poem is about so much more than a bare field.

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.”

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.

The New Experience

Join the speaker on a whirlwind journey towards a surprising realization.

Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong

In this tender poem of healing, care and remembrance, Ocean Vuong reaches out to his younger self.

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.

I Feel the Sun

This poem articulates the poet’s intense feeling about the sunlight after going through a long winter.

Low Tide on Grand Pré

The setting sun gives rise to a treasured memory of Grand Pré in this somber, rhythmic poem.

the knowing

Connie Fife cryptically combines land and body in this poem exploring connection to place and past.

I Lost My Talk

How can you speak your deepest truth in a language that doesn’t understand you?

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.

A Stone Diary

A love poem to a stone takes on deeper, rockier meanings.

Before the Birth of One of Her Children

This frank, devout poem confronts the risks facing a 17th-century woman in childbirth.

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.”

From Correspondences

Anne Michaels challenges us to find new maps to think about old experiences.

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.

The Fish

A dreamy poem diving into oceanic imagery, exploring time and change.

The Tyger

In the woods at night, the speaker talks to a magical animal…

Letters

In this tender poem tracing a lost love, the speaker holds on by letting things go…

the ghosts of women once girls

Poet Aja Monet reveals both gladness and sadness from a little girl enraptured by literature.

Dinosaur Economics

In this poem, playful romanticization meets a stark awakening

dont worry yr hair

Having a bad day? This uplifting poem about the power of our inner potential should light a spark.

From Red Doc

In this poem-as-a-conversation, a man and his mother consider how the past lives on in the present.

Where There’s a Wall

Both beauty and violence are just on the other side of the wall.

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.

Two Words: A Wedding

bpNichol presents life as a river of ever-changing words and asks us to step in.