pickThe more times I read this, the more I like it. Love and loss and the way these two things shape us, because we carry them inside, no matter where we go. Wilderness finding a home in urban places, in ordinary life. Barclay crisscrosses North America, returning to the same themes with fresh perspective each time. #LGBTQ #CanLit #poetry #queerbooks
I love water but distrust people
who are content to abide its lull and price.
We swap islands
and makeup tips:
Montréal for Brooklyn.
A left cat eye for a right.
My little paw bats at your ribbons,
the gift is in the dressing.
To make syrup from autumn, drain bourbon,
brown sugar and ice into your bottle of night.
Please come flying.
We can catch pickles in brine floating
freely down rivers of delis.
I cast spells with emojis: sparkling heart, crystal ball, the cosmos,
black cat.
I'm worried my magic
is all aesthetic,
but my grandmother
is a medium in Paris
which lets me know
I'm half French
and a quarter psychic.
I can tell when people
talk shit
and when my lovers cheat
but that's about it.
(- from the poem Dear Sara VI)
One of the things I love about this poetry collection is all of the places she names: from Morocco to Miami; Paris to the Pacific Northwest; Dearborn, Michigan to Victoria, BC; East Van, Vancouver to Bushwick, Brooklyn; Montreal places and Toronto places and Yukon too. Alberta mentions include Wild Rose Country and Calgary sites like Eau Clair, Fish Creek and Edmonton Trail. A good example of modern nomadism.
Every time you fail
at interior design
and I need to dry out
we'll meet for sour beer
made by women monks
whose devotion is more silent
and free than our stupid hands
scratching at glass screens.
—from Sour Beer for Bitter Hearts
- from the poem: Everything in Moderation Especially Spring
Do any Littens know the name of this grunge band that references Alice Munro? #enquringminds
[These lines are from the poem Emily of New Moon]
Never step in the same puddle of warm beer twice / we learned the sticky way.
(From: I Open the Dryer and a Robin Sails Out)
If I Were in a Cage I'd Reach Out for You | 
