Prelude to a Massacre Twenty men crossing a bridge, into a village, is not a metaphor but prelude to a massacre. Marred by violence my mind begs forgiveness, self-conscious at its pattern of reprise. This old song can’t stop singing itself: If men, Then… The bright clatter of boots on the slats of a bridge, […]
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February 26, 2022 – 7:49 pm
Here is the great paradox of poetry and of the imaginative arts in general. Faced with the brutality of the historical onslaught, they are practically useless. Yet they verify our singularity, they strike and stake out the ore of self which lies at the base of every individuated life. In one sense the efficacy of […]
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February 15, 2022 – 10:21 pm
ON THE TABLE IN THE ROOM IN THE DARK house lies the book you didn’t know you were looking for, opened to the page with the poem about solace you didn’t know you needed; at first the letters, then the words, little by little the lines disappear as you read them in the light of […]
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By Richard Osler
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Posted in General, Poetry
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Also tagged Caitlín Maude, Danez Smith, Emily Barnardn, Greg Orr, Gwendolyn, Jeanette Winterson, Jelaluddin Rumi, Katie Farris, MacEwan, Nazim Hikmet, Patrick Lane, Rachel Naomi Remen
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December 31, 2020 – 8:26 pm
So let us pick up the stones over which we stumble, friends, and build altars. Let us listen to the sound of breath in our bodies. let us listen to the sounds of our own voices, of our own names, of our own fears. Let us name the harsh light and soft darkness that surround […]
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December 26, 2019 – 10:35 pm
Collect for the Homeless God of the broken night. Finder of empty doorways, shopping carts, cardboard blankets, fast food refuse, cigarette butts, dropped coins and nick of time naloxone kits. May your infinite attention be the thin layer of softness between weary bodies and cold pavement, may it be a cloak to shelter children from […]
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