from Report from the Reimer Society, Vol. 1 No. 1
We
are both in love
with tractors, the farmlife at the end of
our arms
just out of reach
of everything
but
nostalgia We are romantic
for past utility, brightly-eyed as a blue
Ford
it’s gear shift
slender as a sapling
We
get sad talking about tractors
Stretching through silver keys
towards communion we furrow
brows, grow a
little teary remembering
how
many things
we have never touched
I offer you ribs
of the radiator, at least what I have heard of it
and you spin the
spiney axel my way
When you begin with a begot, you continue the unforgotten
i’m the son of the son of a tractor;
your lonely fist brings back memories of
that time in southern Alberta
dad pointing to where the granary stood,
where the house was—
former foundations now an indentation in
an empty field.
over a fence the cattle herd watched me
placidly.
they could tell i didn’t know the first
thing about agriculture.
my other grandfather was a traveling
salesman:
little ribs ease up on the clutch.
Elee Kraljii Gardiner is an author, editor, and creative mentor whose award-winning books of poetry include Trauma Head and serpentine loop, and the anthologies Against Death: 35 Essays on Living and V6A: Writing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and three chapbooks: Residence, WATCHER with Gary Barwin, and Trauma Head: the medical file. A frequent collaborator with choreographers, musicians, and visual artists, Elee is currently collaborating with nature via a series of durational installations that investigate the law of thermodynamics and cultural ideas regarding the passing of time. Originally from Boston, Elee lives in Canada where she directs Vancouver Manuscript Intensive, a program pairing authors with mentors. eleekg.com