“The Day I Became King” by Avis Blackbird
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “The Day I Became King” by Avis Blackbird.
The Day I Became King
By Avis Blackbird
I fell into the fur lining of my velvet robe
Dyed the deepest red of a dahlia and billowing with grey matter
I broke the lock wide open and filled the tarnished keyhole with confidence and non-compliance
A crown of iron will
Beneath the mask
Armies fell in behind me
All the rage I had tucked away in corners spilled out like teardrop drenched tissues
I hold tempered wrath from shrinking into pedestrian boxes
I light my chameleon skin to take the walk of the wolf
I am King forevermore
The world is waiting
Copyright ยฉ Avis Blackbird
Forthcoming in Lightning in Our Roots (Brick Books, 2026).
Avis Blackbird is an author, visual artist, photographer and counsellor. She is a member of the Indigenous Arts Collective of Canada, the Federation of BC Writers, and holds degrees from UBC. Some publications include International Human Rights Art Movement: Voices of the Unhoused as well as: Heart, Hope and Land, Arcana Poetry Press: Roots and Ruins Anthology, and a feature in Muskrat Magazine: Enigma. Her full-length book will be released through Brick Books this fall.
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