Neighbours never guessed that we lived in a lapsed
circus, tattered canvas disguised as a rowhouse.
Where there should have been marvels,
a circular emptiness.
I used to barricade my room. I made tapes
from radio, dial chasing the space before songs —
in the leap to record, a vestige of trapeze,
static resembling applause.
Sadiqa de Meijer’s poetry has appeared in various literary journals as well as in The Best Canadian Poetry 2008. Her work was shortlisted in the CBC Literary Awards in 2009 and previously won This Magazine’s Great Canadian Literary Hunt.
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