Crystal Hurdle
Crystal Hurdle’s most recent book, Teacher’s Pets, a novel in verse for young adults, was published by Tightrope Books in 2014. She teaches English and creative writing at Capilano University in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and is a former fiction editor of The Capilano Review.
Articles by
Crystal Hurdle
The Gentleman Contractor in Vancouver
July-August 2016
his golden hairs sit
befurred by sweet goodness
on my fingertips
water pools gently
on the small crab’s pincers
on collective toes
soft honey swells moans
brisk agitation now now now
go slow flow no no
[clever girl clever
rich vocabulary deep and long
evocative, yes!]
as beautiful as
August’s meteor…
Allergic: White Spot
December 2013
The waitress hands me bulky binder
Pages upon pages of product
Big black dots for
· dairy
· soy
· egg
· corn
· wheat
Salmon burger
· no
Veggie patty
· no
Even pie the stalwart standby
· no
Resign myself
to onion rings without the secret sauce
and clam chowder
For me each laminated page slashed by a big…
The Step-Daughter Speaks
October 2012Lolita's Bicycle Speaks
October 2012Humbert's Gun Speaks
October 2012I Help Anne Clear Out
May 2012Wee Tea
November 2011
the “wee tea”
a child’s sampler
urge the fractious toddler to
“just have a taste”
nursery food on a plate
rectangle triangle circle
cubed, it’s a geometry lesson
dowager eats a cucumber sandwich sixth
half-circle and square in the gullet
mini-scone with chicken and apple
dissect, bite, wait
bite bite bite
each barely enough to taste
she argues the garnish into an entree
a piece of…