ottawa, ontario

first

all saints day from ground up
contemplate mothers poisoned bone
pass a makeshift tombstone
plaid handymen prepare storm doors
trample last marigolds
a glebe walk away

old ottawa south ladies discuss october wind
turkey necks clenched
proper way to steep tea (is to brood)

paintings of fields easy curves imprisoned by lines and their brief
flowers cornered
you wonder about restless
men capture
your eyes
know well enough to look
away

ungathered in light are the ghosts
glass shattered stories twenty five down
glisten moments like these

her indian silk gifted by sister
matches café
music bells for no reason
blue haired kindred draws words over paper
what is it to yearn

here are too
many women urge to walk

chrysanthemum yellow at fairbourne and belmont
halloween webbing on riverdale hedges
every house a veranda
each veranda with wind chimes
stones smooth over terrace
exclusive hills

between echo drive
and canals other side
you are concrete
balcony spiderweb dream

Amanda Earl’s poetry is forthcoming in Rampike, The New Chief Tongue and Van Gogh’s Ear. Her chapbook “The Sad Phoenician’s Other Woman” was published by above/ground press. Amanda is the managing editor of Bywords.ca and the Bywords Quarterly Journal. You can read about Ottawa’s literary shenanigans on her blog: amandaearl.blogspot.com. The poem, first, is an excerpt from november, about a walkabout in Ottawa.