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! 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. Homage to the Mineral of the Onion (I) Could a vegetable be the antidote to war? This poem thinks so. 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. 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. 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 Full Metal Oji-Cree That’s ok, our robomocassins will outlive you nine times over. From Red Doc In this poem-as-a-conversation, a man and his mother consider how the past lives on in the present. I Feel the Sun This poem articulates the poet’s intense feeling about the sunlight after going through a long winter. The Blue Guitar In this glosa poem, P.K. Page strums out questions about being an artist and telling the truth. Two Words: A Wedding bpNichol presents life as a river of ever-changing words and asks us to step in. 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. 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 I saw a perfect tree today Lillian Allen praises the rampant diversity of trees in Northern Ontario and asks us to see perfection in difference. Beat! Beat! Drums! With rich bombastic language and Whitman's trademark sprawling lines, this poem rallies troops for war. From One and Half of You Trying on traditional clothing and finding how it fits. Or not. Common Magic Do you ever wonder how anything gets done when we’re all swirling in our own galaxies of thought and experience? This poem does too. My Papa’s Waltz The poet writes a complex poem about his relationship with his father. 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.” Blank Sonnet Set in Halifax of the 1930s, this sensual, inebriated love poem plays with the sonnet form. the knowing Connie Fife cryptically combines land and body in this poem exploring connection to place and past. 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. World Town Layers of memory paint a moving, vibrant portrait of one man’s time spent in a seaside town with his father. Five Postcards from Jericho Postcards to regret, to time, to anyone at all Buen Esqueleto With its allusions and repetitions, “Buen Esqueleto” speaks powerfully on behalf of families caught in the contemporary U.S. border conflict. Not the Music In Not in the Music, Crozier explores the inviolable: the sacred parts of ourselves that we cherish as personal sanctuaries. 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. Two Hours on the Train In this deceptively simple poem, a poet on a journey transcends time. 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. susiya Music binds and refreshes community The Bull Moose A moose's final, tortured moments unfold in a series of brutal images. 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 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. Editing the Prairie If the prairie was a written story, imagine the rejection letter it might get! 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. Thou Poem A poet reveals the happiest and unhappiest parts of their poetry – in conversation with a poem. Laurentian Shield This portrait of a rocky, silent Canadian landscape speaks to the country’s limitations and its potential. 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. My Brother at 3 A.M. A pervasive sense of paranoia threads itself through the quiet night of this poem. A Breakfast for Barbarians Come sit at this mythical table where guests eat the world’s mysteries for breakfast. The Potato Harvest This lonely poem is about so much more than a bare field. Pagination 1 2 3 4 Next › Next page Last » Last page Language English