“Love Was” by Dawn Steiner

Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Love Was” by Dawn Steiner.


Love Was

By Dawn Steiner

I never said I love you

to my father

nor he to me

Love was a shoulder ride

my father’s handkerchief

three-corner knotted

on my head

the treat

secreted in his coat pocket

on Friday nights

pennies

for the corner store

banana popsicles

a bouquet of daisies

displayed in a jar

on the kitchen table

a hike

to the peak of La Tuque

backpack full of ham sandwiches

crunch of forest floor

hush of carpet moss

a backyard rink

ice pucks in the freezer

A yawn

when I came home late

my father mumbling

he was just about to turn in

porch evenings

the gift of silence

night skies drinking the moon


Copyright © Dawn Steiner

Dawn Steiner began writing poetry under the guidance of Stephanie Bolster. As a member of The Wellington Street Poets, she has collaborated on five chapbooks as well as a collection in book form called Oblique Strokes. Her poems have appeared in Prairie Fire, Ferral, Juniper, Bywords, In/Words,, CP Quarterly and flo magazine. She is the winner of the Diane Brebner award (Arc Magazine 2019). She is an active member of Ottawa’s poetry community and is currently working on her first complete compilation of poems.


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