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

20 – Proof Commands Submission

suspicion, report, reprimand

a Jean Chretien proof

is a good proof

because its proven

lock, stock, and a baby unicorn

I transfer them to the red light

there’s no safeword

you learn your submission commands

defiance deletion

welcome to kindergarten

proof? demand proof?

the left, the right

who’s good?

proof sounds simple

submission commands an untruth

demands suspicion

commands supposition

a periscope of the self

with little between them

commands are recurring items

on my shopping list

one day, the dogs are gonna rise

command

sadomasochistic submission

Catherine Heard, Kathleen Betts, Bryne Helen Lewis, Natalee Caple, Todd Bruce, Andréa Ledding, Jacob Wren, Siobhan O’Flynn, Kateri Lanthier, Douglas Barbour, Ralph Kolewe, Vanessa Place, Linda Steer, Priscilla Brett, Kim O’Gorman, Warren Dean Fulton, Laurie Anne Fuhr, Amanda Earl, Gary Barwin, John Moore Williams

21 – The Entrance Is

entrancing, too bad

is also the exit is intransitive

is followed soon by a

narrow fissure

concealed by a brush, too small

your name thinks, slips inside

the territory

but we are not

the only way of thinking

enter any situation temporarily

enter the room

ransacked, traditional

iron soldiers scream from within

echo the halls of greatness

gone

the entrance is currently open

but expect a backwards exit

behind you

the apology, the forgiveness

leads to the end of the hall

you have been warned not to enter

just beyond reach

under the big top

the maze of life

wherever I put it

Gary Barwin, Ted Betts, Angela Rawlings, Brian Bartlett, Catherine Heard, Kateri Lanthier, Todd Bruce, Miekal And, Amanda Earl, Warren Dean Fulton, Jacob Wren, Andréa Ledding, Andrew Topel, Victor Coleman, Priscilla Brett, Elena Basile, Andre Bouchard, Joseph Brown, Natalee Caple, Kathleen Betts, Susan Christian, Nicole Collins, Kristen Peterson, Mike Hargrove, Jessa Hargrove