three poems by Deanna Young
$3
Black Bugpublished in Ottawa by above/ground press
In the days before seatbelts we came to a bridge
through a fine, dark rain. You held the baby on your lap,
as mothers did then, nearly crushing her as we swerved
into the guardrail, then hung there over the river, swollen
and waiting for us to fall. Which is when fate first held
and loved me. Just three, I’d flown through the gap
in the bucket seats and bruised my temple on the dash.
Your shins were gashed, and a familiar tool shed smell
blossomed to mix with rye fumes steaming from his skin
and leather jacket, a smell I did not then identify as blood.
In the hush of rain still falling onto the back of our shiny
black bug, its wings folded. Oncoming cars found cracks
in the windshield and soon, the reassuring scream of sirens.
Beyond that, the other side of the bridge, a blurred and swaying
expanse of years I would find hard to navigate.
February 2012
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy
Deanna Young’s second book of poems, Drunkard’s Path, was published by Gaspeareau Press in 2001. Her writing has appeared in numerous journals including The Malahat Review and Arc and been aired on CBC radio. She’s currently completing her third manuscript, Knowledge from a Previous Life. Born in Lucan, Ontario, she now lives in Ottawa.
Mediterraneo will be launching as part of The Factory Reading Series in Ottawa on February 17, 2012, alongside a chapbook launch by Michael Blouin, and opening reader, Robin K. Macdonald.
To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 402 McLeod St #3, Ottawa ON K2P 1A6 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com
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