Day 8 an absent silence
the house returns to me
its sounds loud today
in the silence from other rooms
empty of visitors and family
humidifier hums, clock talks,
and the furnace and fridge
hold their low-key conversations
no snores before the tv screen
no rattle of crinkly bags
nor clink of coffee cups
as they collect in kitchen sink
only the cat and I still here
in this silence of absence
—cas
Day 7 noticing the body
my brain says “Poem!”
but words are stubborn,
hiding while fingers mindlessly
scratch an ankle too dry
from winter’s arid air.
my focus becomes small,
this patch of skin, one ankle.
if I had a microscope, I might
watch layer by layer as dryness
flaked into the air. A circle
of dust motes twirl and sway
above the grate in the floor
borne on the hot, dry breath
of furnace two floors below.
outside the moment, ears attune
to the low hum of humidifier
two rooms away, as it spills moisture
that never reaches thirsty skin.
Outside January’s warm enough
to melt the snow that fell three days ago,
sun-sharp and bright as a June day and
warm, if you stand out of the wind.
The sixth challenge: to find peace and calm through writing. I thought about when the calmness comes, and I realize that when poems are waiting to be born, there is brainstorm. After the poem is committed to the page, that’s when, for me, there is a momentary (or perhaps longer!) peaceful time, until the next small stone clamours for attention.
a small grey lamp
casts its circle of light
where scribbles argue
demanding space on pages
of white poems. blue fonts
will calm them, ellipses curtain storm
as letters fall onto paper, inner peace returns
Carol A. Stephen
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY VERSeFest
[OTTAWA, January 5, 2012] There’s a popular belief that the year 2012 will be momentous: some say it will be the end of the world. And in Ottawa, a group of poets have decided that this is a great reason to throw a party and send a poem to the end of the world, as a message of sorts.
Poetry for the End of the World, on January 21, is a social evening and party in support of VERSeFest, which takes place February 28 to March 4. Along with live music by Ottawa folk/acoustic band Call Me Katie and Montreal indie band Puggy Hammer (both bands claim poets in their membership,) an open mike, and featured readings of apocalyptic poetry, the organizers will name the winner of VERSe Ottawa’s ‘Poetry for the End of the World’ contest, and then, to crown the night, the winning poem will, quite literally, be sent off to the End of the World.
The idea to send the winning poem off into the unknown came as the organizers were thinking up the best way to celebrate the supposed apocalypse, and they have gotten their hands on a weather balloon, which will be launched from outside Arts Court, at 2 Daly Avenue, at 10:00 PM, after which everyone will head back inside to hear Puggy Hammer perform.
The poem will be laminated to protect it from the elements before launching. A weather balloon can climb to 100,000 feet (high enough to see the curvature of the earth), and can travel great distances if they catch the jetstream. The assumption is that the balloon will climb, and expand as it climbs, until the helium inside it expands too far and it bursts, taking the poem out “not with a whimper, but with a bang,” to misquote the famous poem by T. S. Eliot. Maybe not literally the End of the World, but this is poetry: it’s the metaphor that matters.
The Poetry for the End of the World contest is open until January 7th, and poets can submit their work, or sign up for the open mike, at versefest.ca. The party will be held on January 21, starting at 7:00, and guests are welcome to attend some or all of the events. The full schedule is available at the VERSeFest website.
— 30 —
For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Rod Pederson or Kathryn Hunt
Rod Pederson: 613-747-1464
Kathryn Hunt: 613-314-4821
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