Twenty-seven is a number with a bit of a karmic weirdness to it. Music lovers know that 27 is the age at which many talented rock stars meet an untimely end. Not cool. More edifying is the fact that 27 has its own Wikipedia page. That’s how we’re able to tell you other interesting facts about 27. “Twenty-seven is a perfect cube, being 33 = 3 × 3 × 3. 27 is also 23.” Perhaps even more marvellous is the fact that 27 is the “atomic weight of the only stable isotope of aluminum.” There are many very nifty things about 27, and Issue 27 of carte blanche is no exception. How about we just dive right in, then, and get you acquainted with this beautiful, tragic, comic, life-affirming number?
Your Motherland, Not Your Home

Unpleasant Sense Memories
UPCYCLE
only another variation in the long event
that I react to calmly
and with detached humour
while I search for a more affordable service provider
wasting time being surprised
by the manipulative psychology
of my lemon ginger tea
Hannibal Dreams of Rome
It’s hard to wrestle in mire;
hard to balance in mud:
But we’ll ford the swampy mess
our swords will make,
sinking hard inches into every blanching belly.
An Inheritance
In 1974 my mother drove a fern
from Montreal to Vancouver
in a Datsun
spritzed it at the gas stations
and took the corners gently
as its reach filled space with limbs
between the luggage,
as its terra cotta anchored it
to a moving thing.
The Messenger

Breathing Lessons
