"poem" broadside #313 / Queen’s University writer-in-residence (2012) poem-pick # 2: "Meditation On Stress" by Kirsteen MacLeod

Trapped in the crawlspace:
old lawn chairs, the trash can, some metal pipes,
the damn hula hoop
that caught my bike tire.

I’m doubled over,
my bicycle leaning outside,
purse in the rain, the “Yoga
for Managing Stress” class I teach
starting in just 10 minutes.
I peer out the lattice holes,
yellow leaves swirl—
the wind, cosmic joker;
it gusted the door shut
with an awful click.
I lie back, kick wildly
at the half-door. My heart
leaps like a frog in a jar,
and I scream until I’m spent.

What I’d planned for today’s yoga lesson:
breathe in for four, out for eight.
I smell the damp earth, hear the rain plunk
on the deck above me,

notice
the broken lattice.

I thread my hand through,
open the latch:

Meditation On Stress
by Kirsteen MacLeod
above/ground press broadside #313
& Queen’s University writer-in-residence (2012) poem-pick # 2
(curated by Phil Hall)

Kirsteen MacLeod is a yoga teacher in Kingston, Ont., where she stays mostly unconfined.

"poem" broadside #312 / Queen’s University writer-in-residence (2012) poem-pick # 1: "Night" by Sadiqa de Meijer

Not dark. That makes it June,
or close. The curtain’s a screen
for foliage. Downstairs,
their walks, blind signatures.
Floating in abridged beds, 
sheets brittle and imbued
with backyard trees.
Even bicycles release
a sound in passing, tremulous
as insects. Awake, because
of the light. Loose thoughts
ascend to the white
ceiling: fantastic
Mr Fox’s plan, trick
knots, the voltage
in a friend’s stray touch,
visions of scoring from midfield.
Each night a penciled
tracing paper, overlaid to make
one form, almost opaque.
Words below, but aimless.
I forgot to memorize their faces.
Gods of fuselage and baggage trucks.
No, gods of clocks.

Night
by Sadiqa de Meijer
above/ground press broadside #312
& Queen’s University writer-in-residence (2012) poem-pick # 1
(curated by Phil Hall)

Sadiqa de Meijer’s poetry has appeared in a number of journals, as well as in the Best Canadian Poetry in English series and in the anthology Villanelles. Her poem “Great Aunt Unmarried” won the 2012 CBC Poetry Prize.

above/ground press introduces a "poem" broadside sub-set curated by Phil Hall: Sadiqa de Meijer + Kirsteen MacLeod

above/ground press introduces a new sub-series of the "poem" broadsides, the "Queen’s University writer-in-residence (2012) poem-pick," curated by award-winning poet and current Queen's University writer-in-residence, Phil Hall. As Hall writes:

In my capacity as Writer-In-Residence at Queen's University this fall, I have been meeting some terrific poets, both students at the University, & younger members of Kingston's large writing community.

To encourage these poets, and to share their poems in a wider, brighter form -- above/ground press & I offer these brief numbered POEM fliers, a small autumn series to unfold...

Ph

The first two pieces are now available:

Night
by Sadiqa de Meijer
above/ground press broadside #312
& Queen’s University writer-in-residence (2012) poem-pick # 1

and

Meditation On Stress
by Kirsteen MacLeod
above/ground press broadside #313
& Queen’s University writer-in-residence (2012) poem-pick # 2

Sadiqa de Meijer’s poetry has appeared in a number of journals, as well as in the Best Canadian Poetry in English series and in the anthology Villanelles. Her poem “Great Aunt Unmarried” won the 2012 CBC Poetry Prize.

Kirsteen MacLeod is a yoga teacher in Kingston, Ont., where she stays mostly unconfined.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
October 2012
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy of each

Copies will be available (as supplies last) directly from the authors, or from Phil Hall at Queen's University.

Or to order, send a s.a.s.e. #10 envelope to: rob mclennan, 402 McLeod St #3, Ottawa ON K2P 1A6 or paypal $2 directly at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

Check out here for 2013 subscription information.