folio : Barry McKinnon (1944-2023)
- for Barry McKinnon
You
push
broadsheets
like
illicit
substances
under
the fluorescent light
of
Muffin Break,
take
the top off
a
chocolate chip delight.
I
only want the whole fucking world, you say,
so
the next time we meet
I
bring a globe that spins,
set
it on the table between us.
*
A
printing press
sits
in your basement—
a
life’s ballast.
You’ve
stayed
for
all the reasons—
because
you love the place
and
hate it too.
*
It’s
years before
I
understand
what
you really wanted:
a
home, a people,
poetry
rising
from
the dark places,
a
page spacious enough
to
hold the light.
Clea Roberts lives on the outskirts of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada with her husband and two children. Her poetry has been translated and published internationally and has been nominated for the League of Canadian Poets Gerald Lampert Award, the ReLit Award and a National Magazine Award. She has received fellowships from the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Atlantic Centre for the Arts, Vermont Studio Centre and is a five time recipient of the Yukon Advanced Artist Award. Clea facilitates a poetry and grief workshop through Hospice Yukon. Her website is www.clearoberts.ca.