“traffic advisory” by matthew bettina heinz
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “traffic advisory” by matthew bettina heinz.
traffic advisory
By matthew bettina heinz
caught
at an intersection
marked by dueling bike/car/pedestrian lanes
circles arrows signs pointing in contradictory directions
this mathematical traffic flow constellation has me pondering
the significance of colours โ and — if a equals b but not c then
maybe I can go now?
the radio airs โKilling Me Softlyโ
Iโm so old I cannot tell if itโs the original, the remake or a remake of the remake
but my body settles into the familiar melody
trying to understand that 14-year-old girl manifestation
across an ocean she sits on the window ledge
seeking a way away in new language
& other forms of music
this age full of nervous energy
dodging robot drone strikes, flight turbulence, highway sinkholes & RFKโs health advice
but the message board at George Jay Elementary School
asks us to be a rainbow in someoneโs cloud
so I wait for the light to turn.
Copyright ยฉ matthew bettina heinz
matthew bettina heinz teaches and writes on what is temporarily called Vancouver Island. An unsettled immigrant settler, he currently lives within the territories of the lษkฬสทษลษn and the WฬฑSรNEฤ peoples. A native of Germany, he is a professor in the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Royal Roads University, holds a doctorate in communication studies from the University of Nebraska, and is author of Entering Transmasculinity: The Inevitability of Discourse (2016, Intellect Press, UK).
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