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! Gayatri A selfie with no one in it surprisingly captures the magic of a childhood friendship. Modestine A woman writes a tender poem about her dad’s struggle with dementia. Not the Music In Not in the Music, Crozier explores the inviolable: the sacred parts of ourselves that we cherish as personal sanctuaries. My Brother at 3 A.M. A pervasive sense of paranoia threads itself through the quiet night of this poem. Where There’s a Wall Both beauty and violence are just on the other side of the wall. My sister cries the sea In this poem of environmental apocalypse, Mordecai pictures a divided planet as her sister, listening to the voices of plants and fish as they mourn habitat destruction in creole 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… Opus 75, Sestina in B-flat for the Glockenspiel A silent glockenspiel plays out a teenage girl’s anxieties about growing up and fitting in. from Cross River . Pick Lotus Sometimes a simple wish granted, especially a final one, can change everything. Regardless This vibrant list poem celebrates the right to just Be. We Wear the Mask We Wear the Mask is a resilient and entrancing tug-of-war with external perceptions of self. From Correspondences Anne Michaels challenges us to find new maps to think about old experiences. 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. What Is Poetry Using only the letters in the title’s question, Holbrook generates a smorgasbord of weird and delightful answers. I Lost My Talk How can you speak your deepest truth in a language that doesn’t understand you? Community Garden Seeking to escape internet trolls the speaker turns her eye to the garden From Red Doc In this poem-as-a-conversation, a man and his mother consider how the past lives on in the present. 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. Application Form Identity is elusive. Maybe it doesn’t exist at all. Thou Poem A poet reveals the happiest and unhappiest parts of their poetry – in conversation with a poem. I've Tasted My Blood In this thunderous poem, the speaker proclaims his rage, anguish, and hope in the face of war and oppression. Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen brilliantly uses rhyme and meter in this brutal poem about a poison gas attack during WWI. The Tyger In the woods at night, the speaker talks to a magical animal… 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? The Potato Harvest This lonely poem is about so much more than a bare field. Echolalia Exploring the tension between desire and satisfaction, this is “a poem that you have to kiss your way through without being kissed,” says Williams. 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. Pale Blue Cover In this nostalgic poem, the speaker reminisces about the author Matt Cohen. Blank Sonnet Set in Halifax of the 1930s, this sensual, inebriated love poem plays with the sonnet form. Plenty Who would have thought a trip to the grocery store could be so full of beauty? From One and Half of You Trying on traditional clothing and finding how it fits. Or not. Five Postcards from Jericho Postcards to regret, to time, to anyone at all Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong In this tender poem of healing, care and remembrance, Ocean Vuong reaches out to his younger self. Before the Birth of One of Her Children This frank, devout poem confronts the risks facing a 17th-century woman in childbirth. Letters In this tender poem tracing a lost love, the speaker holds on by letting things go… Good Day Villanelle Is this a painful poem about a funny memory, or a funny poem about a painful memory? susiya Music binds and refreshes community The Bow What flows through a name, and a name, and a name? 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. Language English