Poems

The poems on these pages may be reproduced free of charge for personal or educational use. They may not be reprinted or reproduced in any anthology or collection, whether print or electronic, without the written consent of the author.

Hungry
A looping chant offered in support of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, who has been on a hunger strike since December 11, 2012.

December 6
A fractured sonnet in memory of the fourteen women murdered at l'Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal on December 6, 1989. (A brief blog entry on what went into the poem is here.)

Eyjafjallajökull
This poem is an exercise in name-calling, at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland, which erupted in April 2010, infamously shutting down air traffic over Europe for about a week. I liked the fact that none of the North American newscasters at the time could pronounce its name, calling it only "the Icelandic volcano." I like the difficulty. I also thought it might be appropriate to appropriate an Anglo-Saxon/Old Icelandic genre of poetic name-calling -- the flyting or boast-battle -- and set the human against the super natural.

Lip Shake
This is a brief piece composed for and during a master class with Dave Douglas at U. B. C., on 22 September 2011. Dave Douglas was in town working on a commission for the Turning Point Ensemble. The master class was a hands-on discussion of composition, during which Dave had everyone present -- mostly music students and academics -- write a composition for the available instruments, a trumpet and a trombone, with trap percussion, in about 9 minutes. I tried some notated music, but quickly realized I had no ear for sight-reading or sight-writing at all, so I wrote some words on the supplied manuscript paper instead. The poem, which I think is a score for saying words through a solo trumpet, was revised from this draft later.

Daedalus
A poem written for my father, as a gift on his retirement.

Harmonograph
This poem appeared in Event 40.1 (April, 2011).

For Helen Merrill
An earlier version of this poem appeared in Descant 28.4 (Winter, 1997). It is a tribute to Helen Merrill, who is one of my favourite singers, ever.

Synge on Inishmaan
A version of this poem appeared in Canadian Literature 148 (Spring, 1996). It refers to the experiences of John Millington Synge on the Aran Islands.

Tuner
This poem was anthologized in Northern Music: Poems about and inspired by Glenn Gould, ed. J. D. Smith (Washington: John Gordon Burke, 2001). It refers to studio work for radio and television by Glenn Gould.

East Hastings Jelly Roll, 1919
An earlier version of this poem first appeared in The Fiddlehead 212 (Summer, 2002). It refers to the period Jelly Roll Morton spent in Vancouver.

Lucky Thompson on Manitoulin
This poem appeared in Event 40.1 (April, 2011). Lucky Thompson was a great jazz saxophonist.

Church Organist
A version of this poem first appeared in The Malahat Review 138 (Spring, 2002). It is an elegy for and a tribute to the organist Graham Steed.

Kevin McNeilly

Poems