Off The Shelf :: Karen Solie

Recently enjoyed some shelf-roaming time in a large bookstore in Toronto, ON.  Of course, I eventually found myself in front of the poetry bookshelf, coming home with a shopping bag of treasure.

I discovered ‘HELD’ a remarkable collection from Elizabeth Burns [1957-2015] (random poem 11 March 2016).

I also found  ‘Pigeon‘ a Griffin Poetry Prize winning Canadian collection (2010) from poet, Karen Solie.

Random poem shared here without judgment or censorship, at page 48, is Double.

I’d love to hear what you think, your reactions, what feelings or memories the piece evokes:

DOUBLE

It’s lucky to have someone to talk with.
To whom this strange soft snow falling
out of the blue, for example, might be
described, that thought defined,
and the past, always, its fortune,
hellish stopovers, sheer marvels
of bad planning, affection. Likewise
to listen, doubled within and without
against sorrow’s long compromise. What

is this remainder, then – selfish,
inconsolable – setting out alone
each night to wander freeways’ dangerous
collectors, amid hanging gardens
of electrical transformers, through
the so-called green belt’s terrified
remnants, sustaining a truth that can’t
be spoken, from like place to like place,
never giving the same name twice?

Publisher: House of Anansi Press Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-88784-823-0
Cover Design: Bill Douglas

Other “Off the Shelf” Selections.