BOOK REVIEWS by BRIAN PALMU DANIEL COWPER’S Grotesque Tenderness [McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018. $17.95] AIDAN CHAFE’S Short Histories of Light [McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018. $16.95] The line “Is the eternal / world a city or wood? I ask myself / that often” appears in “Cinematheque”, a poem from Daniel Cowper’s first trade collection, Grotesque Tenderness. … Continue reading Book Reviews: Palmu / Cowper / Chafe
by MEGAN MUELLER Supernova You are a supernova a crystal-rainbow in late July a knowing glance, a kindness from God a shared laugh, hidden history my fingertips once touching or daring to touch, the wee peanut-shaped sonogram, now you are a young Feminist, an uncaged mind spinning into welcome galaxies you are all birthmarks, hairlines … Continue reading Poetry • Megan Mueller
DECLINING HOPE BY LORRAINE YORK As I write this, Hamilton queer activists are organizing a day of action to protest the arrest of colleagues who were defending themselves against an alt-right assault at 2019 Hamilton Pride. A bit further up the lake, the city of Toronto has been facing an onslaught of draconian cuts to … Continue reading Declining Hope • by Lorraine York
BOOK REVIEW by JACLYN DESFORGES EMMA MCKENNA’S CHENILLE OR SILK [Caitlin Press, 2019] We are born in water. We dog paddle through story. We open our eyes and there we are: the IKEA tealight of consciousness flickering within our animal bodies, these soft containers at near constant risk of pain. We repeat … Continue reading Review: Jaclyn Desforges / Emma McKenna
BOOK REVIEW by J.S. Porter FROM GLOBAL VILLAGE TO GLOBAL MEMBRANE: A REVIEW OF B.W. POWE’S THE CHARGE IN THE GLOBAL MEMBRANE, WITH STREET ART PHOTOS BY MARSHALL SOULES “The new electric environment is a collective poem.” – Marshall McLuhan Two implicit questions skulk around in B.W. Powe’s new book: Who are … Continue reading REVIEW: J.S. Porter / B.W. Powe
TWO POEMS by JENN CARSON Deep vein mnemonic My six year old unaware of his delicate beauty a transitory perfection I have to look away from to grow accustomed to the pain of its eventual absence My baby all smooth skin and elegant arms flexes his tiny bicep sees his inky vein popping says … Continue reading Poetry • Jenn Carson
TWO POEMS by JENN CARSON Deep vein mnemonic My six year old unaware of his delicate beauty a transitory perfection I have to look away from to grow accustomed to the pain of its eventual absence My baby all smooth skin and elegant arms flexes his tiny bicep sees his inky vein popping says … Continue reading Poetry • Jenn Carson
