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