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. My Brother at 3 A.M. A pervasive sense of paranoia threads itself through the quiet night of this poem. 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. Marshlands Quietly pause to take in the colours and sounds of a marsh. La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad What would you ask a knight if you found him alone and palely loitering along a barren path? The Dead This sonnet considers the fragmented, elusive way the dead resurface in our lives. Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong In this tender poem of healing, care and remembrance, Ocean Vuong reaches out to his younger self. A Stone Diary A love poem to a stone takes on deeper, rockier meanings. From Correspondences Anne Michaels challenges us to find new maps to think about old experiences. Good Day Villanelle Is this a painful poem about a funny memory, or a funny poem about a painful memory? Weed Killer Fiona Tinwei Lam moves from personal to universal and back to the personal in this chilling poem about the ecological destruction bequeathed from one generation to the next. 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. Vancouver Lights This wartime poem looks out at Vancouver’s nighttime skyline and contemplates humanity. Salmon Courage Deep bravery can emerge amid clashing familial hopes and truths. M. NourbeSe Philip shows us how. Not the Music In Not in the Music, Crozier explores the inviolable: the sacred parts of ourselves that we cherish as personal sanctuaries. “Breathe dust…” Nearly punctuation-free, this is a breathless journey through memories of a youth spent in rural Canada. I Feel the Sun This poem articulates the poet’s intense feeling about the sunlight after going through a long winter. 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. 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.” Fear of Snakes The life of a snake and the memory of girlhood trauma are told in sinuously entwined language. Homage to the Mineral of the Onion (I) Could a vegetable be the antidote to war? This poem thinks so. From One and Half of You Trying on traditional clothing and finding how it fits. Or not. Low Tide on Grand Pré The setting sun gives rise to a treasured memory of Grand Pré in this somber, rhythmic poem. Dear Updike Evelyn Lau powerfully describes the world around her in order to grieve the loss of a beloved writer. 400: Coming Home You can’t help thinking about your life on a long stretch of highway. 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. Poor Speaker Yep, the speaker gets what you're trying to say 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 Blank Sonnet Set in Halifax of the 1930s, this sensual, inebriated love poem plays with the sonnet form. Editing the Prairie If the prairie was a written story, imagine the rejection letter it might get! Sweet Like a Crow This tumbling, outrageous list poem is a backhanded ode to a child’s less-than-melodious singing voice. 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. fluorine Rita Wong uncovers the poisons in everyday life to teach us about our relationship to the natural world. Mantra of No Return It is possible to travel home when one has never been there. This poem does. Too Negative Have your friends’ parents ever warned them away from you because they thought you were a bad influence? “Too Negative” is a poem about that experience. Northern Light A poem about belonging when one doesn't feel like they are completely at home Insomnia A dark, playful twist on what someone would do if they could only sleep… 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 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. Language English