“Blockhouse” by Nicholas Selig
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Blockhouse” by Nicholas Selig.
Blockhouse
By Nicholas Selig
There was the camp where you was washed
in saliva like an impotent runt. Where your knees
were sold by your father for a few cigarettes
because his home was the body & that made
your body an entrance. There were men
who knew of the flesh before it budded—
their grins hot & full of dancing knives.
You would slip out quietly as their breath quickened,
your father smoking in silence at the table.
Before the nights ended, you would shoot out
the stars with an air rifle & each wound
contained decades-old light.
Copyright © Nicholas Selig
Nicholas Selig’s poetry has appeared in Contemporary Verse 2 and the League of Canadian Poets. He was awarded the Nova Writes Rita Joe Poetry prize in 2023. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for The Miramichi Reader.
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