moss remediation by Norma Kerby

June 21, 2023
Poem title: moss remediation Poet name: Norma Kerby Poem: young man in nylon climbing harness leaf blower tossing lumps of green moss off steep pitched roof as other worker vacuums debris moss removal this roof is only wet slab for mosses & ferns flourishing in soil forming processes as gutters fill with green where once a west coast temperate rain forest grew roof cleaner sings fast song boss doesn’t want them to play loud music like those carpentry guys building flash dash houses in new subdivision next street over both of them joke about people from the prairies and how everything here grows moss - roofs & lawns & tops of metal posts moss on cars sitting overwinter & moss on patio chairs & what are those dudes going to do when it starts raining in October & never stops & moss grows on their sidewalks & fancy boat trailers & anything they leave outside grows green algae & moss sunny day so he doesn’t slip as rolls of moss tumble over sharp roof edge he and his buddy will be back if ever it gets sunny again and wash this roof with peroxide to stop it from growing more lichens and moss boss asked if they want to become partners in a business which never ends moss returns and this roof they will be back cleaning eaves in a handful of years as rain & a forest & cushions of moss try to retake their valley End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Norma Kerby Norma Kerby lives on the unceded territory of the Tsimpsean First Nations, inland north coast of British Columbia. She has been published in journals, e-zines, magazines, and anthologies, most recently, the anthologies, Heartwood (League of Canadian Poets), Another Dysfunctional Cancer Poem (Mansfield Press), Seed Dreams (Writers North of 54), (M)othering (Inanna Press) and Tending the Fire and Leap (League of Canadian Poets), as well as her chapbook, Shores of Haida Gwaii (Big Pond Rumours Press). Nominated for a Pushcart Prize (Prairie Journal) and shortlisted in poetry and flash fiction for the Federation of BC Writers Poetry Literary Contest (2021), she writes about environmental, ecological and social issues, in particular those affecting rural and northern Canada.