The Wink

November 9, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Father’s scrutinyinspired terror,but that night,catching the whiffof alcohol onunderage breath,I spied a hintof a sparkle –dared say so “Chip off the ol’ block, eh?” “Don’t you know it,”he winked back. (Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson.Image my own)

Sunday supper table (sestina)

September 5, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

Two at the ends, two at the backone for the cook, one for the helpthis was the way of Sunday’s table:hungry tums anxiously waiting,family dog glued to the floorlest any scrap should need saving. Father would pray for all our saving;serve himself before handing back,while Mother paced the dining floorever offering us kids some helptill […]

Vancouver Island

May 26, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

Is it the robin whose morning song so sharp and crisp awakens me in this enchanted place, or the warble of Juncos whose hooded faces delight as they forage between the dried, curled aftermath of a cold Winter, now pushed aside by new life sprouting? The absence of raindrops on tin roof offers promise that […]

Wayward Daughter

May 5, 2021.Reading time 3 minutes.

(Warning: this poem discusses the effects of sexual assault, and may be disturbing to some readers.) Back and forth I travel, searchingfor her – retrace every bend, curve,detour – back to the water, the sand,the beach where I lost her…haunted by velvet brown eyes – bedroom eyes,they told her, men with greedy loins,calculating – I […]

Self as Book

March 14, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

The pages of this lifebound by aging leathergilded letters cracked intended meaninglong forgotten No images adornthe weathered facethe colour faded shade of auburnlike my haironce upon a time Spine still sturdythreads frayingcorners curling –indicators ofa life well read. (Written for Reena’s Xploration challenge #176. Image my own.)

Writing Memoir

December 8, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

To chronicle a lifeto extract truthseparate skin from soulin search of essence I try to listento the rhythmsdiagram a blueprint am discombobulated. (Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.)

Still Travelling

July 16, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Travel East in search of self Half family extends unexpected warmth Is my identity here with stranger-brothers? I contemplate pausing surrendering to other But this is sleep-walking the distance still remains Journey has no end till soul has purpose and wisdom relieves the wounded child. (Submitted for Eugi’s Causerie weekly prompt:identity. Image shows an old […]

Sibling Camaraderie

April 11, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Remember that time wading to the caves St Martin’s summer How the tide rushed in Atlantic pulling us apart my body weak with laughter How you shouted, coaxed – once ashore we collapsed wet but warm, hearts flooded. (My brother and I weren’t raised together, as his father abducted him at age 10. Reunited years […]

Parental Poison

November 5, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A milk jug, handle turned in, was all it took for father to lather, a barrage of curses decrying our lack of worth, foaming from his mouth – spittle that remains lodged in our psyche – drug resistant venom. (Tuesdays poems come from Twitter. Follow me at @Vjknutson. Image from personal collection.)