Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Address Unknown” by Cassy Welburn.

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Address Unknown

By Cassy Welburn

Tonight a candlelight vigil for the homeless

winds its way across the city core

to mark the passing of those fallen

over the year, like soldiers from their own war.

I thought we might lose you like this

knowing your fondness

for walking after midnight,

bumming a cigarette or

thumbing a ride

in the dark.

Nighttime opened its arms to you

with its muted voices and wild traffic,

its laughter as unearthly familiar

as the thoughts that arose in you,

so strange they could be flowers sprouting

out of your hand offered to a passersby.

In daylight your face was on display

your presence itself an announcement

to give a wide berth

or bring the attention of police.

Your appearance in our lives

alone could build a case for the prosecution.

Yet, you kept coming,

your silhouette in the open doorway

showering us with mangled words,

such a surprise, that even today I can remember

their occasional brilliance.

There is a language in breath,

bodies in motion, the dance of a bee

or a homing pigeon returning

from its unbelievable journey,

in the way a head moves to take in a scene

or turn a blind eye, the way a brother

presses into a family and right through it.

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Copyright © Cassy Welburn

Cassy Welburn is a Calgary storyteller and poet who shares her work with all ages across Canada. She is a frequent Pop-Up Poet in libraries and was the Canadian Children’s Book Society’s Storyteller on Tour for 2013. She has performed her work on CBC radio and has a CD, Cassiopeia: Tales From the Night Tree as well as a book of poetry, Changelings, 2015, with Frontenac House.

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