“What we own” by Marie Metaphor Specht
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “What we own” by Marie Metaphor Specht.
What we own
By Marie Metaphor Specht
Lounging on a lover’s skin
I fit my ear into the small cavern
just below her breastbone.
She tells me someone died
at the construction site,
walked right off the job
but from a great height.
I place one hand over my other ear
to hear her voice vibrate through
viscera rather than air.
She says they are raising money
to send the body back home to Australia.
Returning the only thing
he ever really owned
to the land that birthed it.
Copyright © Marie Metaphor Specht
From Soft Shelters (Write Bloody North in 2023).
Marie Metaphor Specht is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and educator living on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən- and SENĆOTEN-speaking peoples. A long-time member of the Canadian spoken word scene, she is currently serving a two-year term as the 6th Poet Laureate of Victoria, British Columbia. In addition to her independent practice, she has collaborated with filmmakers, lighting engineers, dancers, and musicians to create immersive and interactive works. Marie believes in the transformative power of this art form and has had the privilege of coaching and creating space for youth poets for nearly two decades.
Marie’s poetry has been published in Oratorealis, Untethered Magazine, Chestnut Review, The Hellebore, and Room Magazine, among others. Her debut poetry collection, Soft Shelters is out now with Write Bloody North Publishing (2023).
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