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From the archives

Dangerous Grounds

Coming soon to a democracy near you

The Collapse of Syria

The story of a nation’s unravelling, one neighbourhood at a time

Trompe Le Toil

The modern conundrum of overwork

 

From the moment I saw you—

your curves and secret places—I was held.

Reflected in your smoky eye.

 

You languished alone in the cottage

like private faces that once gazed into yours:

arched eyebrows rouged lips,

 

searched you for imperfections.

Tiny drawers held 1930s hairpins,

tuning forks in love’s symphony.

 

Carmine lipstick, desiccated as Harlow

rolled in the grave of your cupboards.

Kisses of elbows from girls who leaned

 

on your Pennsylvanian provenance:

mystery, utility, exquisite glamour.

Your cracked veneer could not dissuade me.

 

I led you to apartments and auditions

from Niagara to Montreal,

crammed with books and makeup.

 

Now, I glance less and reflect more.

Wonder where you are, oh vanity?

Lent to an actress, for a sublet.

 

Lois Lorimer is a poet, actor and teacher. Her poetry chapbook Between the Houses was published by Maclean Dubois in Edinburgh in 2010. Her poems have appeared in literary journals, including Arc and Hart House Review as well as in the anthologies The Bright Well (Leaf Press, 2011) and Connectivism (Variety Crossing Press, 2012). Her first collection of poems, Stripmall Subversive, is forthcoming from Variety Crossing in the fall of 2012.

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