Herewith, the latest selection from dusted-off published poetry and short fiction, circa 1970s vintage and beyond....
Canvas
The sun hangs heavy and ripe
as a dusky plum
heat coursing
across the cavern of this day
blackflies skipping
rising like a hungry fog
follow like a halo round our heads
as our canoe darts
from the slip
heading straight through whitecaps
meeting the screech of
seagulls, cresting the wind.
A doe steps daintily
through reeds and rushes
busy with delicacies
on the lip of the marsh.
A brace of shrikes
rise from the swamp-grass
slicing arrow-sharp through the turgid air
leaving us to speculate on nests
and ovoids hosting life.
A hawk soars high above the hills
humping the distance
his sharp eye missing the
orderly progression of
ducklings slipping off
a near rock, paddling the water
waddling confidently ashore.
The blackflies feast thirstily
on the worn canvas of our skins.
c. 1980 Rita Rosenfeld
published in Canadian Author & Bookman, Volume 56, Number 1
No comments:
Post a Comment