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! Thou Poem A poet reveals the happiest and unhappiest parts of their poetry – in conversation with a poem. From Red Doc In this poem-as-a-conversation, a man and his mother consider how the past lives on in the present. April 30, 2014 One spring day, dreading an afternoon appointment that will dredge up all kinds of terrible memories, the speaker of the poem focuses on the natural world around her. 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. Northern Light A poem about belonging when one doesn't feel like they are completely at home 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. susiya Music binds and refreshes community 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 Poor Speaker Yep, the speaker gets what you're trying to say people arrived Tracing and traveling with Kaie Kellough’s verse, the people in this poem plead to have their pulses read out loud. The Tyger In the woods at night, the speaker talks to a magical animal… The Problem With Being a Box Too Small for Its Contents Misch expounds the unbearable work needed after a breakup: to separate from your lost love and “rejoin yourselves…even when you don’t want to.” Letters In this tender poem tracing a lost love, the speaker holds on by letting things go… We Wear the Mask We Wear the Mask is a resilient and entrancing tug-of-war with external perceptions of self. fluorine Rita Wong uncovers the poisons in everyday life to teach us about our relationship to the natural world. These Poems, She Said Can an argument be the foundation of a love poem? Robert Bringhurst certainly thinks so! sturgeon Intense with empathy, the poem places poet and struggling fish in direct physical relation. from Cross River . Pick Lotus Sometimes a simple wish granted, especially a final one, can change everything. i am graffiti This poem vibrates with anger and defiance in the wake of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Before the Birth of One of Her Children This frank, devout poem confronts the risks facing a 17th-century woman in childbirth. At the Centre In this poem of a woman in deep repose, her seeds of self-care begin to blossom. The Bow What flows through a name, and a name, and a name? The Blue Guitar In this glosa poem, P.K. Page strums out questions about being an artist and telling the truth. Application Form Identity is elusive. Maybe it doesn’t exist at all. The Fatigue Fatigue is often the first sign something is wrong with one's body. Fatigue looms larger than life in this poem which grapples with meds, family, and coping. Fear of Snakes The life of a snake and the memory of girlhood trauma are told in sinuously entwined language. 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 the ghosts of women once girls Poet Aja Monet reveals both gladness and sadness from a little girl enraptured by literature. A Stone Diary A love poem to a stone takes on deeper, rockier meanings. Two Words: A Wedding bpNichol presents life as a river of ever-changing words and asks us to step in. In Flanders Fields The dead summon us to action in this much-beloved poem of war. Homage to the Mineral of the Onion (I) Could a vegetable be the antidote to war? This poem thinks so. I Feel the Sun This poem articulates the poet’s intense feeling about the sunlight after going through a long winter. Dear Updike Evelyn Lau powerfully describes the world around her in order to grieve the loss of a beloved writer. niya A physical encounter with a stranger ignites a fire of emotions about how to express the trauma of settlement and life in a colonial, urban environment. 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? Pale Blue Cover In this nostalgic poem, the speaker reminisces about the author Matt Cohen. Laurentian Shield This portrait of a rocky, silent Canadian landscape speaks to the country’s limitations and its potential. A Breakfast for Barbarians Come sit at this mythical table where guests eat the world’s mysteries for breakfast. 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. Language English