POETRY QUARTER ................. 12

Today I kiss the sinking cheeks of the insane, the sick and dying.

To my full lips they all feel the same in their soft, sallow withering,

The thinning skin, the yield of youth long harvested, their fields lie fallow,

dropped dregs left for foragers’ pickings, stalk stubble long gleaned of their gold.

Say, don’t leave, don’t leave us, but stay. Sit and hold us close as our mothers did

when we were small, and their heartbeats rocked us to and fro to a faceless clock.

Hold us; no need to speak, fold us into you. Fatten our shrunken beings, thicken our blood

awhile, this lonely ebb of dwindled kith and kin. Stay our deep fears of what we dare not speak—

For we never know when rosy fullness will fade From age or ill, and skin crawls closer to bone.

My next incarnation

Roy Culpeper

In my next incarnation, the nukes will be gone, The climate will mellow, pollution undone.

In my next incarnation will justice prevail, Poverty ended, and tyrants in jail.

In my next incarnation the planet will thrive, All creatures will flourish, not fail to survive.

In my next incarnation all war will be rare, Peace would be normal: this dream would you dare?

Yes, cynics will jest at dreams such as these. They opt for the path of the Earth’s decease.

But my next incarnation will not come to be Unless from our foibles we can truly be free:

Halting the planet’s untimely demise, bold actions are needed: this is no surprise!

Demolish those nukes! none must be deployed, Else civilization be surely destroyed.

Stop scorching the Earth! There isn’t much time. Start nurturing Life on this planet sublime.

And rise up, you poor, let justice be done, Let privilege perish, and the world will be won.

My next incarnation must come to be. I’ve a date with my sweetheart; she’s counting on me. I was her newborn, barely a month old, from a window she watched as the social worker handed me over for life, while I lay unknowing in stranger arms.

Thirty-six years later, our lives rearranged and separate, she opened her door to me to see what I had become. Over uncomfortable tea to sweeten the regret of an anguished moment, she offered little.

Then the door closed, gently but definitively for the rest of our lives, leaving us nothing to hold onto but that wisp of an instant, that glimpse of all that could have been but never was.

And the link between us was just blood, no fairy-tale endings for us, each destined to meld with the goodbye that stretched between us, in memories unlived, and a vast canyon of yesterdays and tomorrows.

The dance between the old and the new Lyla Chenal

DECEMBER 2022 POETRY

QUARTER

The Gift

A gift is a thing given freely – a present. Or it can be an act of generosity itself, the gesture of giving. That giving can be tangible or it can be in the form of love or attention or care. And, yet again, a gift might be a talent or natural ability.

Poets, please send us your poems on a gift you gave or received that meant the most. Or the gift or gifts you bring to the world.

As usual, poems should be: • Original and unpublished in any medium (no poems submitted elsewhere, please); • No more than 30 lines each; • On any aspect of the theme within the bounds of public discourse; and • Submitted on or before November 21, 2022.

Poets in the National Capital Region of all ages welcome (school-age poets, please indicate your grade and school). Please send your entries (up to 5 poems that meet the criteria) to editor@ glebereport.ca. Remember to send us your contact information and your grade and school if you are in school.

Deadline: Monday, November 21, 2022

It’s Ok to not always be Ok. Showing how you truly feel in a kind and compassionate manner is you being authentic and keeping it real.

The only way to heal our wounds is to move through our emotions. Emotions that are not expressed remain stuck within our bodies wreaking havoc until we acknowledge them.

It’s Ok to be outraged at unfairness and injustice. All the while reminding ourselves that eventually justice, balance, transparency & accountability are restored.

Those are the laws of the universe though we may not always see it.

It’s Ok to speak & share your truth. How you found ways to heal yourself when all seemed lost. In doing so you may give hope and help others who have gone through similar ordeals.

No matter how difficult it may get. Never give up as you don’t know what tomorrow may bring.

It’s more than Ok to speak your truth. You are the owner of your story. You know every corner of how it unfolded.

It’s Ok to set healthy boundaries with the people we feel the closest to in our lives. There is a sense of safety in being able to share & communicate our needs to one another with openness.

It’s Ok that those you care about don’t always agree with your choices or views. As long as they respect you and you can agree to disagree in a kind way.

It’s Ok to let go of that which no longer serves your highest good. At times we keep staring at the doors that have closed not seeing the doors that are opening before us. Doors that will lead us to new possibilities and new ways of being.

It’s more than Ok to be rejected at times. Rejection is often protection & redirection to something that is more aligned with whom you are becoming and were meant to be. Into something amazing that you can’t yet see.

It’s Ok to forgive and let go when you are ready. It doesn’t mean you are ok with what happened. It just means that the hurt & pain someone caused is no longer living rent free in your head.

It’s a new day. It’s a new door. The one you are choosing to walk through every moment of every day.

Keep reminding yourself. “I’m going to be more than OK”.