"poem" broadside #298: this used to be a sestina, by Fenn Stewart

they don't know that/ the earth is a magnet
when they are released/ they cannot find their heads
they navigate/ they don't know where

they move/ confused/ into the swamps

to live! slowly they remember
to experiment! they have magnets!
they seek crocodiles!

O those scientists,
we will swath their heads
extrememly. in black bandages. in thick technique.
in florida.

we will disrupt these territorial scientists
they are unique/ and valuable creatures
we will disrupt them/ at a rate of 10 miles per week

to increase their numbers!
this is our radar/ this is our responsibility

their eyeballs are magnets
they roll/ their gait/ their heavy eyes inside their heads
they watch

they are less

their eyes
their magnet eyes
shine deeper in the swamps/

the disruption is over

it is safe to


this used to be a sestina
by Fenn Stewart
above/ground press broadside #298

Fenn Stewart reads and writes in a skinny old house in Toronto. She used to live in Montreal and Vancouver and probably will again, someday. Recent work also appears in The Capilano Review and the "Toronto issue" of The Peter F. Yacht Club.