songanddancegirl

EARLY SPRING

EARLY  SPRING  IN       WEST  QUEEN  WEST

I saw strange fruit on a tree  in my

neighborhood today   Exotic tiny

bananas?  I live in Canada  up north

so no   we have no   bananas

 

But we  had some lynchings    more

than a  century ago   in the East

 

When the slaves thought they’d escaped

only to  find   that they  had not   And            the blues

they still reverberate  through   Africville      

 

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

 

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Spring  2010  Songanddancegirl      Abel Meeropol      Billie Holiday

 

 

I WAS TOLD

I  WAS  TOLD  THERE  WOULD  BE     CAKE

In the past this poem has refused

to be written    So why not refuse

to read it ?   Ah  but you are already

in    Seduced by the promise of  iambic

and the blaze of brilliant sunsets        Run while you     still have a chance 

 

And you are young enough   to make a life for yourself

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Spring 2011

HEY C

HEY  CARYL

Caryl died yesterday

my husband’s

dropdead

gorgeous

high school sweetheart

We’ll miss you Caryl

You’ve been

with us

all these years

The lusty busty playboy

bunny

of the fast cars

on cold Winnipeg

nights

Sometimes he rode his

bike out  to

see you –

2 miles

without lights

But it was worth it

because you

were shy

and you could sew

And made him laugh

I was pleased to

know

He told me too

that my perfume

reminded him

of you

And based on his

description

that used to

make me blue

I can honestly say  Caryl

I’ve now fallen for you

too

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Winter  2010

GIRLFRIEND BREAKUPS

GIRLFRIEND   BREAK-UPS    OCCUR        EVERY  3.5  SECONDS

We had past our best before date  probably

by year 3   but continued to flog the carcass

with a combination of sexual repression  &

ennui     After year 8   over a plate   of garlic

nan     Your middle finger flapped close  to

my left eye   You dropped a 20  on the table

and left without   saying   goodbye

 

3 years later you called  during a snowstorm

and thought that a celebratory  reunion was

in order    O  my long lost lovely    I seriously

wonder if you are not a  disordered personality

gone berserk   at the     Indian Rice Factory

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Spring  2011

 

ENJAMBMENT

ENJAMBMENT  HELL

How does Nicole Brossard

make all of those

words fit together?

 

As though they were

born of different

mothers

 

But somehow make

a gorgeous                wordslinging

family         all filigreed

and baroque

 

My voice       tremulous

as I search for

the right po-mo

timbre –

 

And the breathy

pause       To beat all pauses

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For     Nicole Brossard    Po Mo  Heorine

 

Spring  2010

DUSTING OFF

DUSTING  OFF       YOUR  SAVIOR

Have you ever noticed how on certain days

everyone you pass   is either an elf   or

miscreant?    Well I’m having one of those

 

A  small chickadee  just appeared at my feet

Thinking it a rat   I nearly crushed it    Perhaps

a feathered Messiah?  While just over there in front

of me   people gather    round   a tree

 

There a bird   likely from another world

is cacophonizing        Hi Hi Huuuu  Hi Hi Huuuu

But now   a seachange     And in the silence  only very

hip people pass     All polka dots   smokes    and grimaces

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Summer  2011