“Ashley” by Alycia Two Bears
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Ashley” by Alycia Two Bears, part of the 2026 Poem in Your Pocket Day collection.
Ashley
By Alycia Two Bears
With her lush full lips
that offer warmth
in kisses
words
drenched
in kindness
and more than
the occasional
curse
reminding you of her
distinctly Newfie ways
She is made from the Ocean
irresistible
hypnotic
lithe
the acclaimed salt
that forever stains your lips
Copyright ยฉ Alycia Two Bears
Published as part of the 2026 Poem in Your Pocket Day collection.
Alycia Two Bears is a member of Mistawasis Nรชhiyawak First Nation but calls Mohkinstsis home. A proud mixed-blooded iskwew; her mother, Karen Hines, is a white settler of Swedish descent, and her father is Keith Head. She is a Two Spirit story teller, single mama to five incredible humans, and a midwife in the making who coaxes babies down from the stars with poetry, medicines and songs. Alycia earned her Bachelor of Geberak Studies and Bachelor of Education through the University of Calgary. She is currently attending the Midwifery Program at the University of British Columbia and set to graduate in 2029. Alycia has been published in New Tribe Magazine, Red Rising Magazine, MBC Magazine, Radical Catalyst, Art & Literary Journal, Resurgence of Indigenous Nationhood: Centering the Stories of Indigenous Full-Spectrum Doulas, and Wilding and Sprout: Pregnancy Loss, Abortion and Postpartum Poetry Anthology. She has hosted poetry workshops through Red Rising Magazine, Sparrow Artspace, the Writers Guild of Alberta and the Buffalo Spirit Program. Her first poetry collection, Two Spirit: Stories, Sex and the Ceremony Behind it All was self published with the support of an arts Grant through the Calgaryโs Arts Development and is available online. Her second collection, The Feast, was published through Wild Skies Publishing, available through their website and local book stores.
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