Dorothy Mahoney is the author of several poetry collections including, Off-Leash (Palimpsest Press, 2016) and The Inevitable (Red Moon Press, 2022). Her poetry has been included in numerous anthologies, most recently Heartwood, poems for the love of trees (The League of Canadian Poets, 2018). Her haibun, “M PATHY”, won an Honourable Mention in the Genjuan International Haibun Contest in Japan, 2017. She is particularly intrigued by compressed forms and admires the prose poems of Tom Hennen and Robert Bly. She was able to attend workshops given by Patrick Lane, an inspirational source. A retired English and Creative Writing high school teacher, she has given workshops to teachers and writers at all levels. A volunteer with Hospice in Windsor, she has helped people write life stories. She often spends time on Manitoulin Island with her family and an Old English Sheepdog.
I feel very fortunate that I had a very passionate high school English teacher, Ms. Fluelling. She taught a unit on Canadian poetry and introduced us to the works of Al Purdy, Earle Birney, Irving Layton and many others. She also brought in a young poet, Mary Di Michele who read her work and encouraged us to read and write poetry. She won the CBC Poetry Prize in 1980. I went to the library and heard her read. It was my first poetry reading. Later, I would go to readings by Layton and Purdy. It was an exciting time. I remember liking a Margaret Atwood poem, "This is a photograph of me" because it was such an unusual idea that the photograph of the lake was taken after she drowned. At that time, Atwood was known as a young poet; she hadn't written any novels yet.
I can't stress the impact of teachers. In grade school we had a remarkable teacher who would read poetry every Friday afternoon. Our favourites were Robert Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and "The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail." He was a very animated reader and brought these poems to life. When the principal died suddenly of a heart attack, the students wrote memorial poems. I was selected to read mine at the tree-planting ceremony. That is when I first felt like a poet. I was in Grade 5. Reading in front of the whole school, as well as invited guests, was quite an honour.
Hopefully writing poetry never feels like a 'job.' Poets should write because it is a part of who they are. As such, they should challenge themselves to sharpen their skills, to learn from others and to be part of a poetry community, mentoring others, and attending and giving readings.
Joy Kogawa's "Where There's a Wall" is a powerful poem for me. The first two lines want to read, 'where there's a will, there's a way' which is essentially what she proves through a list of examples both violent and peaceful, from bombs and torture, to prayers and poems. There are no obstacles that cannot be overcome. There is a dream-like voice that 'calls from the belly of the wall' itself. She uses assonance and consonance in a sequence of words: 'perhaps, sentinel, sometimes sleeps, secret passwords,' to increase the whispering nature of this voice. The poem leans on a poem by Robert Frost, "Mending Wall" and 'Something there is that doesn't love a wall...' and that it is not always true that 'good fences make good neighbours.' There are many historic walls like the Berlin Wall and Trump's wall, that echo in the examples. 'Where there's a wall / there's a way through a / gate or door. There's even / a ladder...' provides hope for all that imprisons a reader. This is a poem of hope, with the added irony that she has followed her own advice and written a poem, even.
Shields is a poet who witnesses life through love-coloured glasses, doing her best to be kind, to be aware, to be a witness and to be compassionately supportive. She writes about love, motherhood, women, feminism, family and so much more! In 2021, she wrote a poem a day and shared it on her website/social media. She prefers to write free-form for style, though sometimes she rhymes! She also writes Poetry On Demand — if you give her six words, she'll write you a poem on-the-spot! She has published children's poetry as well. Her poetic voice is vulnerable, comedic, and honest. She has published three books of poetry, several anthologies as editor/main contributor. She teaches poetry classes and workshops in all levels of education (elementary, secondary, post-secondary); sharing her passion for writing and reading with students emerging and established. She owns Gertrude's Writing Room, a mobile creative writing school that offers workshops, classes, editing and mentoring opportunities for writers at all stages of their careers. She was the Poet Laureate of Windsor, On. Shields is dedicated to sharing the power of poetry with students of all ages. She is influenced by poets old and new, alive or passed, and truly believes that there is a poet inside of everyone's soul. As the publicist for Palimpsest Press, Shields worked with authors from across North America to help bring their books into the world.
I was gifted Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet when I was in grade eleven. It changed my life! I had no idea that poetry could exist in such an exquisite voice, melding spirituality, nature, and soul together. It was like Gibran was writing to me — from his soul to my soul. In high school, I wrote so much poetry! Nature poetry, for sure, but also poetry that was an extension of my “self” as I learn to love myself and the world around me. Poetry has always been a safe place I go to when I need to figure things out... that was really where I spent all of high school — trying to figure things out. I would constantly return to Gibran, and other poets like Maya Angelou, Christina Rossetti, Rumi, Mary Oliver, Hafiz, Dr. Seuss for guidance and peace. Contemporary poets like Buddy Wakefield, Andrea Gibson, Molly Peacock and Cassandra Caverhill continue to inspire me!
I began writing poetry when I was nine or ten years old. I also started writing in a journal consistently at that time. Having a place to put my thoughts, my worries, my dreams... was necessary as I was trudging through some terrifying trauma at the time. Writing in my journal became a direct line to my soul and the way I was able to move through what was going on around me. Poetry was a natural part of the way I expressed myself in my journal. It felt good... safe and exhilarating to be able to express myself through poetry. I wasn't conscious of whether or not I was doing it “right” or what form I was following, but I knew that it was a form of expression that “fit” what I had to say. Because it felt so natural and freeing to be writing in this form... and most of my poetry at that time was safe within the pages of my journal, I was writing often and writing a lot. I did begin to write poetry for school writing assignments and slowly started sharing my love of poetry with friends, but it was pretty slow going. When I was twelve, I submitted a poem to a local writing contest the newspaper was having. The theme was “Spring.” Of course, the title of my submitted poem was “Spring”! Indeed, I mustered the courage to submit and I won a prize. At that point in my young life, I knew that I was a poet. Being a poet enabled me to have a deep courage that I didn't feel anywhere else in my life. Submitting to a contest was terrifying... so it did feel grand when I found out that I'd placed for an award. But more than winning, the act of writing the poem — that I had a natural desire to write in this way — was what was truly magical. I began to self-identify “out loud” as a poet when I was in university... so many years later, but in my heart and soul, I've been a poet since I was nine!
A poet's job is to witness, respond, and provoke. A poet's job is to pay attention to the world around her. To use all her senses to pay attention and witness with an open heart and an open mind what is happening around her. Poets are essential to our storytelling history because our job is to witness — then write about what's happening. What we witness is fodder for our poems. The beauty of a writer's process is that it includes a time for pause and reflection via editing and revision. In this way, we take more time to truly reflect on what we've witnessed and express our poems with intention and respect. Poetry is meant to provoke — to trigger, to mirror, to shake, to astound, to hold, to gather. Poetry is meant to be read in minds and hearts but oh-so-importantly to be read and shared OUT LOUD because the words have extra life through the mouth and the tongue and the sound and the rhythm. A poet's job is extremely important. A poem can change the world. A poem can help a life. A poem can inspire action — action for positive change. Therefore, there is a responsibility for each poet to write her truth, to witness with dignity, to edit and revise with patience and accuracy, and to be brave enough to share so readers and listeners like can receive and respond.
I'd be both excited and scared to recite Gwendolyn MacEwen's “A Breakfast for Barbarians.” (Is this a test?!)