Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “baby steps” by David Martin, part of the 2025 Poem in Your Pocket Day collection.

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Baby Steps

By David Martin

the hard

est part

is gett

ing up

the stairs

but i

will help

you to

a favour

ite seat

father

led son

and now

son leads

father

all at

times un

steady

on their

feet

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Copyright © David Martin

Published as part of the 2025 Poem in Your Pocket Day collection

David Martin has published three collections of poems: Tar Swan (NeWest Press, 2018), Kink Bands (NeWest Press, 2023), and Limited Verse, (University of Calgary Press, 2024). His work was recently selected for Best Canadian Poetry 2025 (Biblioasis).

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