Editor: Kent Bruyneel
Volume 32, Number 1, The Ground
Adam Lewis Schroeder, Nick Thran, John Reibetanz, Al
Rempel, Stephanie Earp, J. Mark Smith, Shelley Banks, Chris Hutchinson,
Sheri Benning, Jill Boettger, Ross Leckie, Craig Battle, Katharine Wrobel,
Sarah Feldman, Gary Radison, Erina Harris, A. Mary Murphy Al Rempel, Sheri
Benning, Jane Munro, Terry Lucas, John Donlan, Pasha Malla
Excerpts
by Al Rempel
work backwards from a long smoke
from the grey-clouded swirl into the bowl
gathered up in flame first, then unlit
tobacco — this the air sucked clean down
the pipe, this the slow exhale in reverse
the lips pursed and the teeth clamped
cheeks slacken, the tongue curious and moist
and finally, the pipe laid in a box
don’t you wish you could pack up
the universe this way, tidy the galaxies
and stuff the dark matter into a pouch?
never worry about fires again? take the way
things are between you and I, can’t we
just unwind the strands of smoke
before it churns to haze? I bet
we’d all be jamming our boxes
and pouches full, filling the shelves
without bothering even to label things
and whistling some god-awful tune
while we wash our hands afterwards
