“Observation” by Shirley Camia
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Observation” by Shirley Camia.
A Stoicโs Diadem
By Shirley Camia
The day is a shadow. Long, unbending.
I catch a glimpse of you retreating into yourself, becoming unborn.
Vines sprouting from your limbs, fragile as branches.
Roots cut, the spread of dead stopped at your toes.
It wasnโt always like this.
But this has expunged everything before it.
Water to blistering coal.
There is no sweetness in this hereafter, just endless rounds of ending.
Rags smeared with dried blood. Parched mouth. Bone.
Copyright ยฉ Shirley Camia
Previously published in Wasafiri.
Shirley Camia is an awardโwinning FilipinaโCanadian poet, writer, and poetry filmmaker. She is the author of four poetry collections, including Mercy (Turnstone Press, 2019) and Children Shouldnโt Use Knives (At Bay Press, 2017), with work published in international journals and anthologies. She is also the director of four poetry films, including the forthcoming โThe Great Pretenders,โ and has had her work screened at festivals across Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
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