A note to begin
This is the final poem in The Starbucks Poetry Project blog.
I have been writing twice a week for 6 months and have loved the challenge, the
discipline, and the resulting work. I’ve also loved hearing from readers; it’s
a great privilege to know my art has had an impact. I’m hoping to extend my
reach by getting this collection into print… and into a coffee shop near you.
Stay tuned, and thanks so much for sharing this space with me.
Overheard: Discussion between two people in their
20s who used to date:
Her: Is she your girlfriend?
Him: Um, I guess. I mean she lives in a
different country, but yes.
Where it took me: I used a writing exercise
that asks the writer to juxtapose two very different objects. There are lots of
ways to find your objects, but I took ‘long-distance relationship’ from the
overheard line and, after a long walk in my neighbourhood, the recent ice storm
in Toronto as the other object. I used one of my favourite techniques, the
scramble, to write the story before pairing all the first lines, second lines,
and third lines. As I had hoped, breaking apart the lines this way forced the
similarities between the ice storm and relationships to the fore in a very
satisfying way.
The poem
The Weight of Trees
I walk the valley
in search of destruction:
branches in pieces,
power lines sailor-knotted.
Cub-scout badges
against the storm.
Eight days now.
Neatly trimmed and bundled,
life by the curb, changed completely.
I thought I wanted
the weight of trees.
White towels whip from sagging wires:
caution, or surrender.
I resist the pull.
A train wreck, but I’m struck.
How we remain connected.
How intricately we are strung.
