“Hope” by Nicole Ardiel
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Hope” by Nicole Ardiel, winner of the 2026 Very Small Verse contest..
Hope
By Nicole Ardiel
Like a beached oyster
holding its small breath until
the tide comes back in.
Copyright ยฉ Nicole Ardiel
Winner of the 2026 Very Small Verse contest, and published as part of the 2026 Poem in Your Pocket Day collection.
Nicole Ardielย is a writer of poetry and fiction. After completing a degree in Creative Writing at UVic eons ago, she took a decades-long break from writing anything other than journal entries. Upon returning with gusto to her craft, she was astonished and thrilled to be longlisted for the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize. Since then, Nicole has also been longlisted for the Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse contest, shortlisted for the Federation of BC Writers contest anthology, and published in numerous literary journals. Nicole lives, works, creates and plays on the shores of the Salish Sea, on the traditionalย territories of the lษkฬสทษลษn or Songhees people. She watches the ocean every day and goes through an enormous number of pen refills. Nicole can be found on Instagram at nicole_ardiel_the_writer.
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