even when i want.

even when i want
to i can’t keep
it up like
you do, it’s so cold,
shadows touch
here where the lamp
light ends before
my toes,  i close
my eyes in
stead against the sun

Michael Gnarowski encounters a naked man in the Carleton University washroom

Neither pipe bombs nor the untimely death of the sixties
nor literary celebrity, decidedly unheralded,
can diminish from the primitive shock of finding a
babyjesus-bareass-naked man in a
university residence pub(l)ic washroom.

Don’t make a big deal. Look away.
Must be cold out.
Pay no attention.
I used to be young enough to do that.
Where did this naked guy come from?
Why is he here, now?
___He is here for the same reason I am here.
___We are both here now. I cannot un-look.
___He’s leaving. Where is he going? (dressed like that…)
___The real question: Why are we both here?

There will always be naked people at urinals, Michael Gnarowski.
There will always be friends who fall off,
fall out, try to kill us in their cars
and mooch, and flirt, and lie
but who will write about them?

croak

This is how we sing
She says to the class
Breathe into an O
Then let sound ride your breath!

But my breath is studded like a pit bull’s collar;
it barks out the kinks in my joints.

Still I’ll try imagining an orange in my throat
while singing mee may ma mo moo.

She tells me to
Stay after class
Do it again!
This time opening all your orifices
to the possibility of song!

I should tell her to consider the frog
who inhales a perfect circle
through ever pore
but still only sings one note

February Writing Workshops at Carleton University

There’s a popular belief that the year 2012 will be momentous: some say it will be the end of the world. And in Ottawa, a group of poets have decided that this is a great reason to throw a party and send a poem to the end of the world, as a message of sorts.
 
Poetry for the End of the World, on January 21, is a social evening and party in support of VERSeFest, which takes place February 28 to March 4. Along with live music by bluegrass/folk band Call Me Katie and Montreal indie band Puggy Hammer (both bands claim poets in their membership,) an open mike, and featured readings of apocalyptic poetry, the organizers will name the winner of VERSe Ottawa’s ‘Poetry for the End of the World’ contest, and then, to crown the night, the winning poem will, quite literally, be sent off to the End of the World.
 
The idea to send the winning poem off into the unknown came as the organizers were thinking up the best way to celebrate the supposed apocalypse, and they have gotten their hands on a weather balloon, which will be launched from outside Arts Court, at 2 Daly Avenue, at 10:00 PM, after which everyone will head back inside to hear Puggy Hammer perform.
 
The poem will be laminated to protect it from the elements before launching. A weather balloon can climb to 100,000 feet (high enough to see the curvature of the earth), and can travel great distances if they catch the jetstream. The assumption is that the balloon will climb, and expand as it climb, until the helium inside it expands too far and it bursts, taking the poem out “not with a whimper, but with a bang,” to misquote the famous poem by T. S. Eliot. Maybe not literally the End of the World, but this is poetry: it’s the metaphor that matters.
 
The Poetry for the End of the World contest is open until January 7th, and poets can submit their work, or sign up for the open mike, at versefest.ca. The party will be held on January 21, starting at 7:00, and guests are welcome to attend some or all of the events. The full schedule is available at the VERSeFest website.

In/Words Magazine, Carleton University’s student-run literary rag for 11 years running, is looking for poetry and fiction submissions for its winter 2012 issue. The issue will be printed in late February, so send your submissions to inwordsmagazine@gmail.com by DECEMBER 31.

The issue will launch (materially) at VERSeFest 2012 and (metaphysically) on Literary Landscape on CKCU 93.1, where chosen contributors will be asked to read their work on air!

Don’t forget to submit to In/Words to be considered for the 2011 fall small press fair publication!

Join us tomorrow night (Wednesday, Oct 26) at 9 PM in the basement of the Clocktower Brew Pub on Bank for another In/Words open mic and a special performance by Ottawa’s own poet extraordinaire Stephen Brockwell!  You do not want to miss this month’s featured reader so toss those assignment sheets aside for one night and don’t forget to bring along that short story or poem you’ve been working on instead to the Clocktower and treat yourself to an evening of auditory bliss.