Skip to content
poets.ca circle logo black transparent

League of Canadian Poets

  • About
  • Programs & Services
  • Awards & Contests
  • Poetry Community
  • Join
  • Support the LCP
×
  • About
  • Programs & Services
  • Awards & Contests
  • Poetry Community
  • Join
  • Support the LCP
Search

Monster(s) by Elysha Snider

By League of Canadian Poets | May 16, 2022

Poem title: Monster(s) Poet name: Elysha Snider Poem: I called you a werewolf because of your hair. And you know what they say- hair is full of secrets. Remember when we watched Mean Girls? We shared Junior Mints and I dropped the box, sticky peppermint stained my shoes and you laughed. But you say sweets and recollections are not nutritious. You crave emptiness instead, creeping so quietly you float. Mom and Dad hold hands to the sounds of your exhausted space heater, rasping exhales after vinegar shots that pickle your insides. But I can’t listen. I eat what’s left. Pop-Tarts and lasagna and my questions. Dinners too- you push your food to the side, so I swallow it. Stalking your rotting breadcrumbs to a segmented spine and dark incertitude. ...Did you know hauntings are contagious? ...I’m surprised too. Butterscotch wrappers in my pocket, my crinkling companion in reticence. Starved eyes masking puffy cheeks and suffocating dresses- a figure brimming with secrets, creeping by your side. So maybe they’re not so different, these beasts of ours. Maybe they try to absolve our troubles, whether we starve them or consume. End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Elysha Snider An early version of this poem appeared in Red Deer College’s (now Red Deer Polytechnic’s) 2018 Agora Student Conference Journal. Elysha Snider is a Master of Arts student at the University of Calgary. With the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, she is presently exploring the ecological interrelatedness of the Anthropocene and the literature of haunted houses. Elysha lives in Central Alberta with her husband and cat.

Posted in Poetry Pause
Support poets and poetry in Canada. Donate today.

Established in 1966, the League of Canadian Poets is a National Arts Service Organization dedicated to supporting poets, building poetic communities, supporting inclusive and equitable free expression, and promoting Canadian poets and poetry. 

Site Links

  • About
  • Programs & Services
  • Awards & Contests
  • Poetry Community
  • Join
  • Support the LCP
Member Hub

Get In Touch!

  • League of Canadian Poets
    C/O Centre for Social Innovation
    720 Bathurst St
    Toronto ON
    M5S 2R4
     

  • (416) 504-1657

  • [email protected]

  • The League of Canadian Poets operates remotely; in-person office hours are by appointment only. 

"Poetry means having the courage to forage the depthsof what makes & unmakes us."

–Adebe DeRango-Adem, Author of Vox Humana, 2023 Raymond Souster Award Winner

Donate Today
Poetry needs superheroes. A donation to the League of Canadian Poets supports poets and poetry from coast to coast.

The office of the League of Canadian Poets is situated in the land of Tkaronto which is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

Footer-logos-resized-new

© 2023 League of Canadian Poets

GoDaddy Web Design
Scroll To Top