2 – A Third Way

A third way is not simply the first way and the second way jammed together in an awkward and uncomfortable merger, but hopefully something else altogether — something new, something we have never thought before. Once windows and doors have been tried,— heat ducts, sewer pipes. A third way will leave us on the streets, enough food to feed you. A song, a third a half a whole quarter: call forth, go in, prove to be the lucky one.

Begin with these three words: the way begins. A third way is a giving way, to take us that way means making way for some other. A third eye.

I thought they would go on forever. I search in vain, accomplishing nothing, sharing sounds of silent treatment on deaf ears. Conceived in a dream, a third way invented by a monkey playing an accordion.

Jacob Wren, Andréa Ledding, Douglas Barbour, Todd Bruce, Linda Steer, Andrew Topel, Penn Kemp, Alice Robinson, Gary Barwin, Natalee Caple, Joan Guenther, Catherine Heard, Kim O’Gorman, Kathleen Betts, Harold Renisch, Kateri Lanthier

3 – Through this fence

through this fence

all light is bent

I thee wed

another fence

I whisper –

what are you

trying to keep out?

the slim weasel escapes

the water lilies grow

we flock

thinking moonlight slants

line across the gravelled yard

found, we convert stolen gods

into poetry, true writers

are thieves

peer, wonder, fear, doubt

through this fence mending relations

restored regrets

noir noir comme le jour

push your heart to me

I press

through this fence

my friend

can you sense my brown eyes and cigarettes?

ripe grapes spoiling on the vines

the grass appears

lies common sense

through this fence

en garde

crawl seeking

any kind of happenstance

I watch the world go by

we go

shafts of gold

Kees Kapteyn, Tanis MacDonald, Chris Banks, Todd Bruce, Brian Bartlett, Shannon Maguire, Kateri Lanthier, Catherine Heard, Pearl Pirie, Andréa Ledding, Shawn Shipman, Joan Guenther, Linda Steer, Nicole Collins, Kim O’Gorman, Kathleen Betts, Pam Edwards, Susan Shone, Jacob Wren, a.rawlings, Jamie Reid, Alice Robinson, Penn Kemp, Mora Gregg

4 – Savvy, I turn

I turn you on to
my attention
to the convictions
that brought me
to this


gold in clean air
tears in water
ink in earth


I turn eyeful
the end of these sentences
toward hurts – please –
turn a phrase upon others
turn cold when martial law
turns heel on floor.


I turn towards the end
Sauvignon Blanc in hand
my head totally around
turn turtle to the left.


I turn into the thing
I’ve always feared: savvy,


the world in on itself
turns slowly, step by step
upon the point of this pin.


I French I English
I a Canadian pumpkin
turn the world on with my smile
and catch in my refracted eye
the shadow of uncertainty
and turn and turn and turn and turn




Todd Bruce, Susan Stach Anderson, Kateri Lanthier, Pearl Pirie, Gary Barwin, Ted Betts, Glenn Robson, Jamie Reid, Priscilla Brett, Catherine Heard, Brian Bartlett, Amanda Earl, Sharon Honywill-Haddow, Kit Dobson, Andrew Topel, Warren Dean Fulton, Kemeny Babineau, Andréa Ledding, Joseph Brown, Linda Steer, Kim O’Gorman, Jacob Wren

5 – Lines into Wires

zap good reset

spaghetti in pot

me wondering telegraph

the highway driven

home lines wire

the physical infrastructure

the internet me

short notice lions

tremble into sleep

whines into liars

desire, desire, desire

and how liars spark

the circuit text

a woven tapestry

post-Heideggarian exclaim

the poem spread

wires into ears

into hammers anvils

mucus connective crevasses

conduct vibrations brain

the wires live

eliding writhe stet

enjambing keeps soldering

hidden wires into

song cuts the

heart into strips

make the connections

wires into lyres

and liars into

the Spring, spark

lip frayed end

outliers into flatterers

begat wires to

bolts switch lightning

I need metaverse

the strip hack

your channels

into lines

Pearl Pirie, Tim Posgate, Bryne Helen Lewis, Jacob Wren, Amanda Earl, Natalee Caple, Andréa Ledding, Linda Steer, Kathleen Betts, Roland Prevost, Todd Bruce, Warren Dean Fulton, Jamie Reid, John Moore Williams, Brian Bartlett, Nicole Collins, Lauren Corman, Tanis MacDonald, Yvonne Trainer, Sharon Honywill-Haddow, R.P. MacIntyre, Susan Christian, Ralph Kolewe, Kateri Lanthier, Kim O’Gorman, Priscilla Brett, Joseph Brown

6 – That Lead Straight

A series of people finish this sentence

contaminate your brain and make it impossible

to finish

which explains why it was so dull.

The final clue: an ancient coin

with unknown characters on its face

that lead straight to hell

over the edge, down the crooked path.

That’s the last time I follow

the realization that I can’t even

think straight.

As the pencil it came in

straight

into the mouth of the dragon.

Jacob Wren, Miekal And, Amanda Earl, Brian Bartlett, Catherine Heard, David S. West, Warren Dean Fulton, Priscilla Brett, Todd Bruce, Douglas Barbour, Joseph Brown

7 – Into the Shadow

Into the shadow

another shadow

in the shadow

bad boy

rode

and out of the abyss of depression

cloaked for fear of the truth

shadow swim memory fish

dove to get the light

out of the grave

the shadow brandishing

we go

just beyond vision

a shadow being

grief’s remains

into the shadow

jump

walk north at noon

bodies go out of style

a crab scuttles out of the light

into the shadow

went into the shadow

the shadow turns

a lovely lady, hair of gold

the mother of the valley of death

a table with oil

my cup runneth over

into the shadow

colours still distinguishable

being

lost

can you name the woman?

her lover is not near

the death of the still

light behind is impossible

my secrets scurried

scuttled

into the shadow came the people,

the air, the ground, the sun, the universe

where I know what lurks in the heart

into the shadow I step

knowing not, caring not,

fearing

Jacob Wren, Natalee Caple, Miekal And, Susan Christian, Maria Damon, Todd Bruce, Tanis MacDonald, Jordan Frye, Kathleen Betts, Douglas Barbour, Warren Dean Fulton, Jamie Reid, Brian Bartlett, Alice Robinson, Lynn McClory, rob mclennan, Catherine Heard, Pearl Pirie, Sharon Honywill-Haddow, Jacqui Mc Menamin, Pam Edwards, Andréa Ledding, Nicolas Béaud, Andrew Topel, Kateri Lanthier, Joseph Brown, Kim O’Gorman

8 – Of the Violence

the violence and the English language collaborated

witnessed none worse than what

yesterday, the government

washed its hands, let the police go

the image, the newspaper

say nothing

brutal bruises, into the red

we apologize

rapt by the spectacle

inherent in human nature

we offer no further demonstration of the offal

the unclenched fist of the pacifist

capable of the species, this earth

only comes close to kind cruelty

the violins

of the violence

the violin whispered

i was thinking of

the violence, revolting

to reality

we witnessed much can be said

we have our collective stories

we can only say we hope it was historical

a blood splash to dew-starred grass

i sigh, not through indifference

flickering, say nothing

travel by the light of the stars

there is only silence

the violence ended

post toxin

the typewriter

offset by determination

jubilation

“The violence that occurred lately was sole. What else can be added?”

Miekal And, Todd Bruce, Jamie Reid, Beth Follett, Amanda Earl, Warren Dean Fulton, Catherine Heard, Ken McGoogan, Glenn Robson, Priscilla Brett, Thamyris Jones, Brian Bartlett, Gary Barwin, Natalee Caple, John Moore Williams, Danielle Clarke, Catharine Heard, Pam Edwards, Tanis MacDonald, Chris Fox, Linda Steer, Lynn McClory, Nicolas Béaud

9 – Of Post-Industrial Transnationalism

Dickens often spoke
of animals, Id, art, lust


some countries have more than others
and national, we bifurcate dogma


the migrating Monarch butterflies know
migrating Monarch butterflies
pre-industrial dust
of a country for old men


the globe as village
as goldfish bowl

we sing somnambulant
of post-industrial transnationalism
and its chances for transubstantiation


the Pope has declined
state


short-sighted movements were eclipsed
by dance, revolution
constructions teetering skyward to infinity


we sing in
our usual tone-deaf élan
of a post-breakfast champion



Todd Bruce, Natalee Caple, Jamie Reid, Kathleen Betts, Leslie Ambedian, Brian Bartlett, Kateri Lanthier, Shannon Maguire, Gary Barwin, Amanda Earl, John Moore Williams, Andréa Ledding, Catherine Heard, Michelle Mackay, Warren Dean Fulton, Steven Robert Morrison

10 – Protected by Police

for up to a year

the dictator decided to try his hand

at writing a romance

dragging tails through puddles

the harbour rats

carefully plan another spree of crime

feeling like you

sitting in the world

blatant, indiscrete

against common decency

criminals sleep

tucked in beds

children starve

protected by police

is slightly worse

than not being protected at all

I push through paparazzi

with my banjo and fiddle

bluegrass festival main stage

health care for all

makes me okay

pay taxes

police serve, protect, investigate

protect us from them

free starlight tours

all winter

Saskatoon shines

we fear everyone but

the oil industry devours the earth

the thin blue line separating us from savagery

protected by police,

by privilege

I am the law

Mubarak crumbles

the cardinals tremble

the pervert lived undisturbed

only the other police

mean nothing in this lawless land

he gathered gold and flew to Canada

protected by police from police

losses regularly

sound like an oxymoron

Ralph Kolewe, Shannon Maguire, Brian Bartlett, Jamie Reid, Kathleen Betts, Priscilla Brett, Jacob Wren, Tim Posgate, Todd Bruce, Warren Dean Fulton, Andréa Ledding, Alison Starkey, John Barlow, Catherine Heard, Gary Barwin, Andrew Topel, Joseph Brown, Miekal And, Natalee Caple, Laurie Anne Fuhr, Richard Rathwell, Harold Spooky Pollack III, Nicolas Béaud, Kemeny Babineau, Linda Steer

11 – Left Unprotected Power

power lines start to smile

lose its power

turn to rust

no longer

held the action of others

in the corner, power throws a tantrum

no one appears

power hears silence

for the first time

power exists in order to protect itself

law, justice morph into

fail

power goes out

candles at the ready

power weakens

sparks, lunges, and exits

creates and destroys

left unprotected, power left

power spills its guts

sleeps ‘til 11

finds new protections

should be unplugged

protects no one

fluent power

leaves us unprotected

gropes in the dark

whimpers in fear

I say, power down

have a good cry

power is shocking

turn it off

power picks up the children

power dissolves in a puddle

vacuums fill full of our fears

left unprotected, power isn’t

Jacob McArthur Mooney, Jamie Reid, Lynn McClory, Andre Bouchard, Catherine Heard, Kateri Lanthier, Jamie Reid, Todd Bruce, Warren Dean Fulton, Shirley M. Bear, Linda Steer, Gary Barwin , Glenn Robson, Cris Costa, Jacob Wren, Judith Copithorne, Douglas Barbour, Kevin McPherson Eckhoff, John Moore Williams, Catherine Heard, Kathleen Betts, Natalee Caple, Joseph Brown, Pam Edwards, Brian Bartlett, Nicole Collins, Priscilla Brett, Michelle Mackay

12 – Surges Against Bodies

sutures pull tight

the wave, a nickel, some stars

wind signs the coming

citizenship of Egypt

racing towards each other

like hacksaws sleuthing

souls in a storm

salt sweat sea

the lightening electric

full metal armour

living anthracite overwhelms

hair standing on static

quivering seeing you

purging

urges

I fucking hate this

mosh pit

surges against bodies

the Hardy boys cold fusion

cuddle puddle

only in a sheet –

petition the mind –

send reinforcements

Bryne Helen Lewis, Linda Steer, Ted Betts, Warren Dean Fulton, Roger Hanna, Kathleen Betts, Catherine Heard, Andréa Ledding, Ralph Kolewe, Sean Braune, Jacob Wren, Natalee Caple, Joan Guenther, Mat Laporte

13 – Intentions are Reset

intentions show up unexpectedly
intentions made to think
in Egypt


government blows the
fuses of people


I mean regrets
poke there
float
and reset again
the moment buckles
at the earliest opportunity


the crowd calls for the emperor
blinks
never recovered


the road everywhere
pressing the nib of your pen


be aware


I love you


let’s take expectations unmet
promises forgiven
intentions reset
free


intentions end sentence
after the stubbing to zero


reset, led, relocated by actions



Nick Treanor, Bre Walt, Jacob Wren, Gary Barwin, Stuart Ross, Andrew Topel, Maria Damon, Christine McNair, Natalee Caple, Todd Bruce, Jamie Reid, Priscilla Brett, Kateri Lanthier, Barbara Hunt, Andréa Ledding, Nicholas Béaud, Kathleen Betts, Amanda Earl, Catharine Heard, Victor Coleman, Brian Bartlett, Warren Dean Fulton

14 – Time to Try

get up, make breakfast

children, there’s nothing fair about justice

the patience of

an American fat-burning

dredging the river, corpse sniffing dogs

untying time

trying a new

look at the ones you love

that new definition of art project

out, again

time to try to move to Canada

try something new where you are

try everything

just be nice to each other

push the camel through the eye

of tears, trying times

time to try crime

to stand in concert

crime to fry meat

Troy listening

try this set of wings

let the young take charge

desperate measures

to live, try again again

JA Weingarten, Andréa Ledding, Todd Bruce, Catherine Heard, Andrew Topel, Alison Starkey, Brian Bartlett, Tanis MacDonald, Ted Betts, Douglas Barbour, Rhea McCarrol, Natalee Caple, John Moore Williams, Kathleen Betts, Kateri Lanthier, Gary Barwin, Pearl Pirie, Amanda Earl, Andre Rodrigues, Kemeny Babineau, Jacob Wren, Priscilla Brett, Allison Sekuler, Warren Dean Fulton

15 – I Go Forward

step, step back

blindfolded, groping in the dark

dozing off in the arms of sleep

I don’t know why

into the river

pockets with stones

leaning into the wind

forewarned

still trying

I go forward

or is it backward?

by moving the others

backward, I go forward

but Winter follows, unabated

careful

the world

with the bit in teeth

plans a backwards snap

brakes smoking and screaming

I go forward

but don’t come back

going down, looking back

sideways at tomorrow

and yet it never really feels

towards the end

word-wary

relinquishing intangibles

because I can control the future

but not the past

I go forward

wherever I can

into the dark

because we can never really go back

I pronounce four words:

I meant to say

I can change future

and not the passed

I like change better

I go for control

I go forward

into the abyss

at the sound of the buzzer

of the past

shying from the future

Vanessa Place, Catherine Heard, Brian Bartlett, Natalee Caple, Todd Bruce, Nicole Collins, Sandra Ridley, Jamie Reid, Kinga Jakab, Gary Barwin, Linda Steer, Andréa Ledding, Kathleen Betts, Tanis MacDonald, Tom Cull, Susan Christian, Thamyris Jones, Warren Dean Fulton, Priscilla Brett, Jacob Wren, Kateri Lanthier, Kim O’Gorman, Evelyn Mitsui, Alison Starkey, Joseph Brown, Clint Wilson, Lisa Young, Kristen Peterson, Kevin McPherson Eckhoff, Richard Rathwell

16 – Unto the Gate

march
blinkered men on blinkered horses
cabbie flower spray dirt
unto the gate, get out
and into the grave
get yourself strong to play
trust it will remain open


the gate was a very nice gate
but over the wall and under the snow
open
the shoes stick, the girl runs barefoot
tote neat shimmered reflection
of her
as she fished into her pockets
for the key


of perception, there were two
but one’s come unhinged
the master waits pearly and white
holding back clouds
of the burial site
religious soundbite
lions protect the door
the American domestic
shall sing
everyday corruption


unto the gate
like a good reprobate
unto the dance



Brian Bartlett, Natalee Caple, Joan Guenther, Miekal And, Amanda Earl, Linda Steer, Kit Dobson, Andréa Ledding, Shannon Maguire, Kevin McPherson Eckhoff, Todd Bruce, Kateri Lanthier, Susan Stach Anderson, Catherine Heard, Lynn McClory, Tanis MacDonald, Kathleen Betts, Warren Dean Fulton, Jacob Wren, Karl E. Jirgens

17 – Property Rights Stop

property rights stop

property wrongs begin

privacy rights begin

at the marsh

where frogs and herons reign

the use of the shoreline

free movement

just stop

right

now

at a line in the sand

today

anarchy reigns

I tent

stop money stop

at the ocean

stop

invisible lines in the water

hitting me in the shins

property rights belong to poverty

human rights yield a beating heart

land overflows with

microbial, avian, minute mammalian

skittering slithering, stealthy

what has happened?

where did it all go wrong?

Natalee Caple, Pearl Pirie, Andre Bouchard, Brian Bartlett, Jamie Reid, Ralph Kolewe, Priscilla Brett, Catherine Heard, Lynn McClory, Vanessa Place, Linda Steer, Tanis MacDonald, Roland Prevost, Sean Braune, Gary Barwin, Lauren Corman, Kateri Lanthier, Warren Dean Fulton

18 – I Became Illegal

because it was boring
when others like me gathered
the police put on the kettle in the rain
they told me I wasn’t here anymore


illogical, illness filled me
I became illegal in 48 states
“how wonderful for you”


the day Facebook stole the rights to my
it started to rain
the heart of my social insecurity
the day I learned


I became illegal but remained irresistible
I am cocaine, heroin, ecstasy
I will lead you to perdition


when Gregory Betts made me
I began to dance, my bones like weapons
it seemed logical, a birth
my soul turned inward countries


illegal for
when I
when I plagiarized Vanessa Place
I tolerated other people


a birth
a conception
those that lead told me
I wrote this line
borrowed, borrowed
for the endorphins


I became illegal quick
as it was pre-ordained
and it was me


Vanessa Place, Gary Barwin, Kateri Lanthier, Ralph Kolewe, Andrew Topel, Joseph Brown, Natalee Caple, Priscilla Brett, Satu Kaikkonen, Todd Bruce, Jamie Reid, Brian Bartlett, Catherine Heard, Laurie Anne Fuhr, John Moore Williams, Judith Copithorne, Kim O’Gorman, Alice Robinson, Catherine M. Bennett, Miekal And, David Flieger, Nicole Collins, Pearl Pirie, Andréa Ledding, Tanis MacDonald, Warren Dean Fulton

18 – Documents Being Processed

documents being processed should be no cause for celebration

while U wait don’t hold yUr breath

is a polite way to say ‘kidding’

joking clueless funny naïve

in carbon triplicate betwixt and between

passing toward the shredder

documents may appear closer than they are

but no longer turn our fingers Gestestner-passive

voice in the food processor

the word processer scrounged stipends

in the digestive system of bureaucracy

get eliminated in the end, subject

to the general rule of garbage in garbage out

documents being processed cheese

might with olive oil

be a tad more palatable

documents by monkeys

handled by TAs

as the prof works on your breath

through the shredding machine

minced and meted

the last train parks

the airport deserted

the river rising

documents are no longer documents

your hand cramps

you drop dead

processes being documented

through governmental order 1479846

failure to comply will be documented

subject to verification

after 6pm

and processes being documented

and beings being beings

Miekal And, Vanessa Place, Diane Schoemperlen, Ted Betts, Catherine Heard, Tanis MacDonald, Brian Bartlett, Tom Cull, Maria Damon, Kevin Mcpherson Eckhoff, Andréa Ledding, Jamie Reid, Gary Barwin, Andrea Ryer, Todd Bruce, Linda Steer, Joseph Brown, Nicole Collins, Nicolas Béaud, Kateri Lanthier, Jacob Wren, Kristen Peterson, Rob Sutherland, Natalee Caple, Bruce Eckhoff, Warren Dean Fulton, Blueorangepublishing Ceret, Amanda Earl

19 – Learning That Power

power is alive and within us

though absolute

power corrupts tools

avatars of real power

walking teaches corruption is real

strength equals multiple illusions

like law, has nothing, means much more

is more becoming on others

learning that power should have responsibility

is billed by the kilo-watt hour

can be discerned from what a person is wearing

power should be shut off

is the rate at which work is performed

is not a means it is politics on CBC

power only corrupts when we fear that power

instead of this one

power surges and illuminates

fries the wires

embitters

is relative

wind

up with a shiveree

gone stratospheric

Jacob Wren, Priscilla Brett, Gary Barwin, Tanis MacDonald, Bryne Helen Lewis, Nick Treanor, Andrew Topel, Todd Bruce, Brian Bartlett, Natalee Caple, Warren Dean Fulton, Ralph Kolewe, Pablo da Vinci, Gordon McFarlane, Tom Cull, Catherine Heard, Amanda Earl, Gwen MacGregor, Pearl Pirie