“Dandelions of Humboldt” by Micheline Maylor

Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Dandelions of Humboldt” by Micheline Maylor, which first appeared in Poetry Pause in July 2020.


Dandelions of Humboldt

By Micheline Maylor

In the Co-op over the coffee cream and frozen pies,
Mabel made โ€˜em fresh yesterday. Dads and daughters,
McDonaldโ€™s ice cream after the ballpark game.

A town infused with meaning, a pointed perspective,
a railway line. The doorway holds a glass urn heart,
the coffee beats/drips deep the pulse, platitudes.

Generations of familiarity: Not much rain. Nope.
Crops suffering. Yup. Jimmyโ€™s got steak and sauce on special.
Everyone just being there, under the 180 degree sky.


Copyright ยฉ Micheline Maylor

First appeared in Poetry Pause in July 2020.

Dr. Micheline Maylorย is a Poet Laureate emerita of Calgary (2016-18). She was awarded the Queenโ€™s Platinum Jubilee Award for literary contributions to Alberta in 2022. She is the senior acquisitions editor (poetry) at Frontenac House Press. Her most recent work is an introduction to Hunger: The Poetry of Susan Musgrave. Wilfred Laurier Press 2025.ย 


Subscribe to Poetry Pause, or support Poetry Pause with a donation today!