folio : Barry McKinnon (1944-2023)
having
sought wisdom
the
poet – guide to the comedy
leaves
us in the darkness that surrounds
envelops
the field
becomes
it
the
poet moves beyond the ghost of himself alive
beneath
those uncharted constellations
but
not blindly
what
was it to him
to
have vision, or half vision
in
this fog of truth anyway
to
speak when few listened
what good was wisdom then?
had
I had more sight
even
a measure of his dim eye
that
cyclops, that man
that
Polyphemus
then,
I
the
mythical no one
might
have stopped
gone
out of my way to see him
before
his blindness became complete
detachment
or
maybe
I had seen it after all
a
portent
had
given/forced upon it some form
a
thought left unspoken
a
ghost of duty
had
ignored of myself
or
wouldn’t listen to
or
ran from
out
of fear
said,
self
there
is always time
and
other men
and
better men
until
there weren’t
to
keep from speaking out loud love’s due
was
a betrayal of vision
of
virtue
oh,
how I am now diminished
a
no one
not
even mythical
no,
not even
I
have through silence
unleashed
another shadow
and
can see nothing
but
blindness now
Mateusz Partyka was born in Poland in 1988. His family moved to Canada when he was a young child, and he was raised in Prince George. As a creative writing student under the tutelage of Graham Pearce, Matt was exposed to the Prince George writing community including writers like Barry McKinnon and John Harris, who became both friends and mentors. Together with Graham Pearce, Matt has been coordinating Post North, one of Prince George’s largest annual poetry events, for over a decade. Matt currently works for the English Department at the College of New Caledonia.
