Thursday, January 21, 2016

New Land


Do the bones haunt you?
The starved sheep abandoned
in the crumbling mortar walls
left by fleeing predecessors.

November kills everything.
Is there beauty in this death?

Cobalt skies setting foliage afire
fleecy wisps of cloud
arctic birds escaping
southward to your Yankee ancestry
chasing Acadian ghosts.



Monday, November 30, 2015

subsistence

monosyllabic man with red stick in hand
drawing on the rocks, impressions of his land
animals dancing or rearing or rough
since when is subsistence enough?

plastic pearls and gingham swirls billowing from her hips
rouge paint round yellowed teeth, beckons from her lips
two-legged dance or ritual for love
since when is subsistence enough?

sweat-soaked labourers beneath electric earth
asking 'brothers, how much are our bodies worth?!'
bread winners dying or trying to be tough
since when is subsistence enough?

blogging woman with her fingers afire
ranting her wit through the undersea wire
suits meeting re distribution of stuff
since when is subsistence enough

Friday, January 10, 2014

Best Books I Read in 2013

I read mostly nonfiction this year, partly because I was researching a book. So my best-of list is a little shorter than usual, but as you'll see some of the nonfiction was really really good:



Cornwallis: The Violent Birth of Halifax by Jon Tattrie - 
 Jon's a friend of mine and I was a captive audience in a sense, but I was surprised by the details of this apparent baffoon who founded my city, and the bizarre, sadistic tactics he used to subdue the French and Mi'kmaq. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17998588-cornwallis
Click here for more.


 Conversations With a Dead Man by Mark Abley - 
This is sort of a biography of Duncan Campbell Scott, who led the Indian Residential School system thru its period of greatest expansion. 
But it's also a series of imagined conversations between the author and the subject's ghost. 
Abley's a great writer and writes a lot about language and culture, so the book had a lot of great insights and solid storytelling throughout. I was fascinated.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18342398-conversations-with-a-dead-man
Click here for more.



Everything is So Political edited by Sandra McIntyre - 
This is a collection of short fiction with political themes, which happens to have one of my stories. 
But I was genuinely impressed with these stories and how well they preached without preaching. I also loved the international flavour - stories of strife and struggle from around the world.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17405009-everything-is-so-political
Click here for more.


Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan - 
I picked this up at Value Village for a buck. I knew it'd been a big hit and had an entire chapter in PowerPoint, so I figured why not give it a shot? One of my top 2 reads of the year. It's all about musicians. Each chapter is really a short story but the people are all connected. It jumps around in time and relationships and you eventually get several life stories. Really well written, fun and tragic.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7331435-a-visit-from-the-goon-squad
Click here for more.



The Hermit of Africville by Jon Tattrie - 
I liked this one even better than the Cornwallis one. It's the true, and crazy story of Eddie Carvery, who has maintained an onsite, tent-in protest against the destruction of Africville for more than forty years. They call him "Crazy Eddie" for a reason, but as crazy as he may be, the things that happened to him were crazier.(Did I just say "crazy" several times?)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9317690-the-hermit-of-africville?from_search=true
Click here for more.



 Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler - 
I read this to my 4-yr-old aloud, in one sitting, and he was riveted, and also cracking up constantly. I tried to read Richler when I was in high school and couldn't get into him - might have been over my head then. Should have read this one I guess, more at my level.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/226759.Jacob_Two_Two_Meets_the_Hooded_Fang_Jacob_Two_Two_Adventures
Click here for more.




My other top-2 favourite read of the year, Song for Night by Chris Abani is an amazing short novel. I bought it for $2 from a library discard bin in Toronto and it's one of the most beautiful haunting books I've read. It's the first-person narrative of a voiceless child soldier doing evil deeds masterfully told, with a twist. I still think about it five months after reading it. Can't recommend it enough.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/960213.Song_for_Night
Click here for more.





What Lies Across the Water by Stephen Kimber - 
The story of the Cuban Five, Cuban spies in Florida operating on practically nil budget until they got busted and put away forever, almost. The response is laughable (or would be if it weren't causing so much harm) given how little they were capable of and what they actually did, which was prevent a few bombs being set off in Havana by Cuban-American radicals. Oh and there was that incident where a plane got shot down - many sides to that.  Fascinating story, top-notch research by Kimber.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18216034-what-lies-across-the-water
Click here for more.

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Thursday, December 26, 2013

Meribah

My holiday short fiction piece in this week's issue of The Coast:

Meribah

Monday, November 11, 2013

Concepcion's Song


I remember
that night like fire
His hands on my body divine

Like we were young
Tequila fueled
Rebel look all over his eyes

The kids asleep
Dreadful bliss
Gave me yet another child

Clinic seeking
No one could help
American money run dry

I cursed the Pope
Cursed my husband
Ronald Reagan no friend of mine

Now they’ve left me
to live on streets
Killing time before they die

I’m alone here
Useless and old
Nothing left but wasted time

They took our farm
Built a fact-tree
Building guns so my sons can die

What a fixed game
against the poor
Took their hate and made it divine

They build their walls
We throw our rocks
Their bullets fly back at our side

We make the news
It’s all violence
We are the ones who did the crime

Full of dynamite
All stuck inside
Ronald Reagan no friend of mine

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Zen Anxiety

Brown-robed monk paces
haunted by pornography
babysitters' breasts

Guard watches on screen
can taste monk's anxiety
zen security

Elevator stops
monk gathers robes, sprints away
Guard smiles, loves his job

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Tremble


He approaches
I tremble

He ate a forest first thing
had to skip lunch
No time
too many calories

He doesn’t sleep
Too busy
planning
acquiring

Ate an ocean for supper
I’m next

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