Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “These Dog Days” by Virginia Boudreau, part of the League’s Fresh Voices program.

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These Dog Days

By Virginia Boudreau

I know this panting
earth needs rain, yet
the thick fog furring
the bay makes me feel
barking mad.

Further inland, the marshes
whine, streams beg,
rivers paw shrinking banks.
Even the deepest lakes run off,
leaving their shores behind.

Lightning tricks flame into toothy prisms.
A dozen fires burn. Woods are off-
limits. People stray off leash
and toss butts anyway.

Hurricane Erin brews offshore.
I wonder if she’ll touch down here,
get the zoomies. Worry dogs me
like a lost puppy. Overhead,
smoke inhales bright kibble,
every star in the sky.

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Copyright © Virginia Boudreau

Virginia Boudreau (she/her)is an emerging writer living on the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia, ancestral territory of the Mi’Kmaq. Her poetry has appeared in a wide variety of Canadian and international literary venues, both in-print and on-line.

Fresh Voices is a publication and workshop program created by and for the League’s associate members, curated and edited by Erin Vance.

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