Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Tuesday poem #40 : Fenn Stewart : a most notable fault



a most notable fault
the singular transcription of these out-door notes
I’m thinking that I might have left out
the Red Rock River fault /

before entering or leaving a room,
worries and doubts are common.
the backs of letters, home-made note-books: leave them out
the perception of a negative outcome
or, just the telling of how they came into my hands

a childhood onset
south, from out around Old Woman Bay
one might act on thoughts
If I see a piece of broken glass on the road
or on the Diabase dikes

Say, In the autumn of 1900, when all senselessness was lost
I could predict a singularly catastrophic consequence
like roadcuts or attacks on personal well-being
Or a piece of broken glass
For example, bedtime routines
Pillow lavas and stacks
and thinking of one punishment
an anguish in / Gargantua Harbour
I really have made a terrible mistake
it forms an interesting cataract/

broken glass
and A year later / he had passed into eternity
As in the case of
violent and aggressive thoughts
or the older and Precambrian rock

but it’s only a couple of pages to the St Lawrence
If I continually wander
I might just catch A faint, a fresh, a barely palpable air

Also of interest / his wife began to wonder
"bad" thoughts are equally immoral
especially among perennials

Keeweenawan lavas
occur, so frequently, against one's will
like Cat-birds, thrushes, robins, etc.

experience a substantially higher rate
include your agate exposures
your blasphemous thoughts
the profuse bloomings of the tiger lily (is it the tiger-lily?)
stream erosion: although it could be a cause or an effect
it is possible and highly desirable
on a first-class steamer
in numerous river valleys
to be overwhelmed with anxiety.
Eskers are present / so
It was worth coming to Canada
tho’ it may have harmful consequences
Glacial spillways
but then, I have to do something
a better job controlling

As I write, a long shell appears
on the Baldhead
the weight of the glaciers has depressed the level of these lakes
what am I afraid might happen?
water, like frost, is almost significant
bizarre, upsetting or intrusive
frost shatters

I feel continually like the relative
of an ordinary mouse
I stride athwart the stream
what else might I tell you, tell myself
of these half-burnt shells
the debris or talus accumulated at their bases
images are experienced
I could multiply some individual probabilities
I could throw their black shadows in strong relief
To wave action and lake ice
I could give each of them a ranking
on the clear and glistering water
of of of
how moral you evaluate them to be
how very dashy and inspiriting
stack shores and sea caves, consider the /
unwanted thoughts the
generally jagged appearance of the /
final catastrophe
mine is an agreeable jaunt, no?
on a rocky shore
to and fro, one afternoon
I did not extinguish my cigarette
I do not make even minor mistakes

Every prospect pleases you: you overestimate the severity
it is more likely that I really have/
Made a mistake

Which dreaded events are reasonably possible
Lizard islands, some trusted people in your life
I did not make a mistake

a dossier, a creek/ do draw a circle:
one has / susceptibility to some disease
even to an illness

& although I know that The Dominion government keeps entire faith
It is critical to reorganize
the beach. ensure it’s sufficiently developed

include yourself last; that is,
perfectly still and cloudless, fresh and cool enough
smooth like Buckshot
This is the effort required to achieve perfection
these are my most pleasant hours
unwanted thoughts
spangled with still orbs, emulous, nestled
in bedrock, raised and contemporary beaches
a little physical discomfort
the riverbed, its rocks
the appraisals you have been using
how much of the blame do you believe is yours
coastal erosion is a feature of regional, provincial, and even national significance
to fully experience this benefit

I go out every day

Contaminate other people
as well as the eskers, scattered

The smell of the cut herbage
how much do you dwell on them
how much less rugged backshore

The sprouting of new associations
not having toxicoplasmosis
thoughts completed
It is a great place for our birds
this Coldwater River
varieties of minnows / are Also present
note this down / with Well-fibred little notes
cancer is a zodiac sign, it is an animal, it is a crab.
 fire = fireflies, fire = fireworks, fire = candlelight-dinners

in Lake Superior there are sea lampreys / one ought
to hold oneself responsible for this
Though but a looker on
it’s insect populations
I hear the sound of scythes snapping
it’s almost as bad as doing it myself
animal life in general is very representative
it is highly persistent
like the sandhill crane
I am convinced beyond a doubt
I am a peaceful person
tho’ less rugged
a naturally occurring sugar
a preoccupation with avoiding
the occurrences of peregrine falcons

if I feel any doubt
like a car over broken glass
I can engage in regular treatments
the native brook trout
it would be all my fault
to assume that this is possible

these are features of perhaps provincial dread
highly desirable
These have a larger and a fresher look than
Eastern gulls



Fenn Stewart reads and writes in Toronto. Her work has appeared in The Arcadia Project, Open Letter, The Capilano Review, and ditch, poetry. She is the author of two chapbooks: An OK Organ Man (above/ground, 2012) and Vegetable Inventory (Ferno House, 2013).

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan

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