Lightpublished in Ottawa by above/ground press
The light of the Moon clear and familiar
mystical dogma double-edged Cross
faithful commitment expression in circles
Romantic conviction written as loss
language opacity held in communion
historical origins of Infinite Man
memorably moonlit leitmotif paintings
performed in an epoch where Art failed to stand
jargon and cant the theories inferred
circling the horns Cornucopia’s right
language and history damned as a mystery
on religion’s poetics the corpses alight
With new writing by a host of Peter F Yacht Club regulars, irregulars and VERSeFest 2025 participants, including Kimberly Quiogue Andrews, Susan J. Atkinson, Frances Boyle, Jason Christie, Michelle Desbarats, Em Dial, AJ Dolman, Amanda Earl, Cara Goodwin, Phil Hall, Jessica Hiemstra, Rebecca Kempe, Laurie Koensgen, Margo LaPierre, Karen Massey, rob mclennan, Pamela Mosher, Salem Paige, Terese Mason Pierre, Pearl Pirie, Monty Reid, stephanie roberts + Grant Wilkins;
Jorge Etcheverry Arcaya (Ottawa)lovingly hosted by rob mclennan
Rob Manery (Vancouver)
rob mclennan (Ottawa)
Chris Turnbull (Kemptville)
+
Grant Wilkins (Ottawa)
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| David Currie and Christine McNair |
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| Amanda Earl |
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| nina jane drystek [photo credit: Jérôme Melançon] |
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| Jennifer Baker [photo credit: David Currie] |
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| Monty Reid |
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| Chris Johnson [photo credit: Jérôme Melançon] |
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| Karen Massey [photo credit: Jérôme Melançon] |
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| Sophia Magliocca |
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| Jérôme Melançon |
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| rob mclennan [photo credit: Jérôme Melançon] |
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| Grant Wilkins [photo credit: Jérôme Melançon] |
Poem for Marije Bijlpublished in Ottawa by above/ground press
Machiavelli’s thoughts on power,
a collage in ink and acrylic on paper.
Blue hair, red eyes and a lot of orange,
but basically a realistic portrait
of European-ness,
the heretics of doctrine
and western, white identity.
A personal vision of harmony and art,
coloured by cigarettes, Greek helmets,
a collection of Dutch poetry,
and too many winter nights spent in Beijing,
ever on the cusp of enlightenment…
like Catharina de Medici
(who did it for God).
* * * *
Poetic Constructions
In the fall of 2020, with the world in lock-down, the annual EBA Open Studio – a perennial highlight on Ottawa’s arts calendar – had to “go virtual.” This presented a unique opportunity to create a literary component to go along with the EBA artists’ more usual visual focus.
I wrote the resulting poems using texts and artists statements provided by the EBA and artists themselves, as well as the poet’s direct observations of the art on display during the Open Studio, and my own knowledge of the work of many of the artists.
I would like to thank the artists who participated in this project for trusting me with their work: Sarah Anderson, Marije Bijl, Taylor Boileau Davidson, Patricia Kenny, Juliana McDonald, Christos Pantieras, Mana Rouholamini, Daniel Sharp, Svetlana Swinimer and Joyce Westrop.
Thanks to Marije, Mana and Joyce for organizing the project and making it happen. Thanks to Petra Halkes for her interviewing skills, and special thanks to David Westrop for his work in building the webpage for the poetry.
The Enriched Bread Artists website can be found here
The Poetic Constructions website can be found here
Art!
When our statesmen and orators called out
concerning our love of dog-eared bibles and flame-flagged men,
the earth was thus provisioned for the idleness of the pious
and the omnipotency generated by the Elizabethan intrigue
and accidental antiquity of our Malted Milkshakes.
The ancient critics would pronounce this the greatest
achievement in lyricism of which they knew,
and so we will nudge it, kick it, prod it, push it and
broadcast it by all of our best endeavours
and senseless relentless pleasures
upwards and onwards
into the realm of Art!
published in Ottawa by above/ground press
* * * *
These poems are a response to “The Baroness Elsa Project,” an exhibition of art, poetry and performance inspired by the dadaist artist Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, which showed at the Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa from September 28 to December 12, 2021. The exhibition was curated by Heather Anderson and Irene Gammel.
The motivation to write the poems came from my participation in “Cosmic Chemistry,” an experimental performance and improvised choral event that followed the exhibition, organized by CUAG and led by Gabriel Dharmoo and Kathy Kennedy.
Special thanks to Glenn Nuotio for inviting me to participate.
Morning
Matin means morning or sometimes, wakening sky when night’s dying shadows and old superstitions meet the stirring of the sun writing hope in blood and gold above the marble quays and laurel woods like warm breath on silence
Le Temps s’écoulera means Time shall flow or sometimes, the world marches on when the hallucination of words empties and refills the drawing rooms and schools and the woodyards of our youth with the woeful felicity of a quaint morning melodrama or a high sovereign creed
Le chant des cieux means the song of the heavens or sometimes, the lament of the winds for though the city bells are singing in their hollow towers echoing endless Ave Marias I can still hear the Goddess whispering broken in grief and dim old age dying slowly away like mist in the morning
Rêver et attendre means to dream and to wait or sometimes, somehow, my spirit is asleep when the pale broken sun that lured our youth and disordered our minds is beaten smooth to gleaming silver we will finally be free to drink the alchemy of the Word in a long Circean draught
L’aube d’été means summer dawn or sometimes, morning summons when the sun breaks dull red and the outer verges of my sleep slowly vanish to the sound of sparrows and fresh light as I stir in the morning and weep in mourning for the antiquity of your wisdom
published in Ottawa by above/ground press
