God of Missed Connections
By Elizabeth Bachinsky
Nightwood Editions, 2009
Review by Nick Schuurman

The worst nuclear power plant disaster in history, an unspeakable famine killing millions, a hard-won fight for independence, a country left devastated by wars and Soviet occupation.

What compels us to keep histories so full of death alive?

This spring, explore climate change during National Poetry Month and Young Poets Week

I should have known. When poets get worked up, they’re apt to start rhyming. From the loose whirling words of Matt Nash’s “Standing Shallow” to the strict metronome of Shawn Sanders’ lovely “More than Thought”, we’ve got it all, folks. There's even a brand new French poem from Amber O'Reilly of Yellowknife.

Nue
Par Amber O'Reilly

En vaut-il la peine
de se laisser envahir
d’ouvrir son corps-âme-esprit
pour y accueillir des pensées
traîtresses

My obsessive unexploitation of the Free Verse
By Suzanne Helen James

This is a free verse,
Something I'm not gonna curse.
The rules are what I strive for,
Though I admit, I've strayed once before.
Tempted by the twisting of rhyme,
I'd watch it pour out like wine.
For a while, it was a habit...
But in the end, my love was to make words fit.