AMY LEBLANC AT THE POETRY PARTY

 Amy LeBlanc writes: The Calgary launch of my debut poetry collection I know something you don’t know (Gordon Hill Press) was meant to be on March 31st, 2020. I’ve also had to postpone an Edmonton event in April and I will probably postpone my Toronto launch in May.

Amy LeBlanc

The storied life of Grace Poole

    She dangled striated 

    scarves from the window

    rattling her head as I 

    held her waist.

He told me to keep her 

quiet, to keep her safe, compliant—

this significant 

paranoia 

that she might be

    vaulting

    purging

    dancing

    like red fiber from rafters. 

    She tells me

    my hair reminds her 

    of a fox. My brush is 

    a signal to enemy lines: 

    her lips parting

    on a stolen glass

    of honey soaked wine. 

She and I 

watch the tree, 

as it splits and succumbs

in the orchard, a slit 

where the tree was licked

with a voltage charged tongue.

She says that it will never 

be the same again.  

We are both behind

the lock and chain, but 

I can abscond 

to the halls and gates.

    She lingers behind

    the latch— 

    her fingers

    entwined in a lock 

    of my red hair. 

We are curious bedfellows

with sweetness on our thighs,

    the topographical curving

    of bones and banks. 

She is hers and I am mine.

I will never ask 

for more than the chill 

of her hands that cool me 

until I drown.  

    She won’t jump with someone 

    to hush the light. 

Buy Amy LeBlanc's book directly from Gordon Hill Press or these bookstores:
Shelf Life Books, The Next Page, Pages on Kensington