I am
a forgotten orchard
in the deer thicket
a waiting of ears, hearts
and if I have time
I will laugh
oh my false drama, fears
don’t be clever, be true
woodpecker chickadee woods
my back to the sun for so long
dry tea leaf smell
squirrel ends this poem
I’m a writer but
my sister says
she doesn’t read books
can’t, in fact what
is she really telling me?
I pee
and drop my chemicals
into the earth
where all good
and bad things are
I am doing nothing
for Syrian refugees, missing and murdered girls and women
I am trying to keep my own head on
here I saw the great white owl starving that cold winter
and here the snake, coiled in grass and sun
here the coyotes kept straight on in their running
and the turkeys
here a fox stopped to look at me
both of us delicate and lovely in that moment
I climb to the top of a pile of rocks and sit
hemlock droops bare on my shoulder
my hand on moss
two great black horses walk slowly away
busy
living
love is here
dear Yasmine
dear daughter
all I want to do is make you supper
and write:
so, burritos?
Louise Carson has most recently been published in Montreal Serai, The Nashwaak Review, The Puritan and The Impressment Gang. Her books include: A Clearing, poetry; Executor, a mystery; Mermaid Road, a novella; and Rope: A Tale Told in Prose and Verse. Her next book, another mystery called The Cat Among Us, will be published in the fall of 2017. Louise lives with her daughter and a husky in rural Quebec where she gardens, writes and teaches music.