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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

Allergic: White Spot

 

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

 

X marks the spot

 

I’m so sick of Allergy

 

What if I ask for the Braille menu?

Eyes closed, under my fingers palping greedily

raised dots for the things I cannot have —

chicken pot pie, milkshake in the galvanized tumbler, broccoli cheese soup —

Fingertips eating them up

I will open my eyes wide, so wide

look around me at what I can

 

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.

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