I will not write about him today
There is river after all & sky
Of his loss, there is nothing more to say
At the estuary’s mouth, a shielded bay
Where swallows slip when the rocks are dry
No, I will not write about him today
The sand kin to stone, at its softest, clay
Waves now a scrape, then a shush & a sigh
You see, of his loss, nothing more left to say
Water twists in the distance; its route goes astray
The salt in the air sets the whole scene awry
So I will not write about him today
Clouds scraping mountains; the vast landscape gray
A skreak from an eagle, then the flicker’s cold cry
At last, of his loss, nothing more left to say
All those words that you wrote and what of him stays
All those words that add up to the one word, why
No, I cannot write about him today
Of his loss there must be nothing left I can say
Catherine Owen is the author of nine collections of poetry, the most recent being Trobairitz (Anvil Press, 2012) and the chapbook Steve Kulash & Other Autopsies (Angel House Press, 2012). Her collection of memoirs and essays, Catalysts: Confrontations with the Muse, was published by Wolsak and Wynn in 2012. Frenzy won the Alberta Book Prize. Owen edits, tutors, plays bass in Medea & the allgirl AC/DC tribute band Who Maid Who, and composes with the Lyrical Outlaws.