I call this blog A Poet’s Nanaimo as I live in a city full of poets and poetry events. In May, my partner Sarah Clark and I will have lived in Nanaimo for twenty years. We’ve made a lot of friends during the years and taken part in many literary events including some organized by the four poet laureates we’ve had during that time.
In 2023, MJ Burrows, Marlene Dean and I published chapbooks of poetry through house of appleton, Sarah’s imprint. We really missed doing that last year so this year, we’re doing it again. MJ, Marlene and I met in the Writing Life women’s circle I lead and some of the poems got started when we were writing together.
MJ’s chapbook is What You Left Behind, dedicated to her late mother Evelyn. Marlene’s is Menagerie, all about her love of animals, with drawings by her sister-in-law Christine Dean. My chapbook is Modern Words for Beauty, named for a poem I wrote some time ago. The dress on the cover, designed by Sarah, was inspired by that poem.
Other poems in my chapbook are more recent such as “Night Work on 10th Street.” When I saw the sign on the road on the way to the grocery store, I thought it would make a great name for a rock band or a poem. I’ll include it below.
We three poets along with our publisher, Sarah Clark of house of appleton, and Nanaimo’s current poet laureate, Neil Surkan, will launch our chapbooks on Sunday, April 27 at 2 p.m. at Bethlehem Centre in Nanaimo. We’ll be in a building called Shepherd Hall where I launched my full-length book of poetry, Fishing for Mermaids, and more recently, lead writing circles called Writing for the Love of It.
Here’s the link to further information about the launch and about the books which can be ordered through house of appleton.
It’s a pleasure to take poems out into the world to be shared with others. Very different from the introspective nature of writing the poems and I love both aspects: the inner journey and the outer celebration.
And I don’t want to forget the time of rest. Marie Metaphor, who just finished her term as poet laureate of Victoria, reminded me of that in her recent social media post:
In some ways, I feel like I’m sitting out poetry month this year (at least in a public sense), but integration, rest and reflection are a part of the artistic process.
I just wanted to say: Hello, loves. I’m still here. Still a poet. Still a performer. Just resting (for now).
Introspection, celebration, integration, reflection and rest. Happy Poetry Month!
Night Work on 10th Street
The road sign reads: Night work on 10th Street.
Once I’ve been to the grocery store, it’s unlikely
I’ll be out after dark. Rather, I’ll be home in bed,
not working, nothing, noticeably, to fix. Unless,
I wake at midnight; then again at 3 a.m.
I begin to recite lists to distract
my spinning mind: Beatles’ songs,
girls’ names, bird species, rivers
of the world: Ganges, Muskwa, Meander.
What of my own mending? In the quiet, the cat
padding down the hall, shall I give myself credit?
Be grateful? Forgive myself?
My night work, intense. My own, solitary repair.
Mary Ann Moore