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Two poems by Lorne Daniel

Lorne Daniel

garry oak
Garry Oak / by EM from a photo by Garry Oak / photo by D Stanley (CC BY)

Island Fall

“to redefine is not always to lose” – Stephen Dunn

I am buoyed by the slowness of change
on this island, this autumn, the Garry Oak
leaves crinkling, painted with heavy dew

but holding fast well beyond this prairie boy’s
expectations, still of value like well used paper
money, glints of gold. Sure, a few fall every day
and in the boulevards everyone shuffles through

the accumulations but this could go on, I hope
for a month or more. No shivering bare
limbs. yet. Is this what Keats saw
a couple of oceans ago?

Be prepared, I have been told,
for the slowness, island time. Watch others
with patience. Cascadia moves ever so

grindingly. Half an inch a year,
plate over plate. Be prepared for the shock,
one day, of earth’s shudder

and, for now, savour what does not

fall.

The Poetry Came Back

The poetry came back like a gift
ha,ha, sure
and written in grand calligraphic
strokes on fake parchment.

No, no, it didn’t. That would be
creepy, poetry creeping
onto the desk, a flourish unexpected
from a 49 cent stick pen
as if from quill and well.
From the hand as if from the heart.

The poetry did not come back.

The poet came back, back
to the page, the page
welcoming and blank and calm.

As ever.

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Lorne Daniel

Poet and non-fiction writer Lorne Daniel lives on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada where he consults and blogs about sense of place and urban placemaking. His most recent book is Drawing Back To Take A Running Jump. He is a previous winner of the Jon Whyte Memorial Essay Prize.

Author: Lorne Daniel Tags: poetry Category: Poetry September 24, 2013

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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