Combustion

by Jesse Eckerlin

Appalled by the dark
the transients head back home
in their motorboats
Return to perishable dwellings
in the heart of recreation.

While errant gunshots
ring out repeatedly
through the hills,
Limbs no longer calm
we stay and camp on islands
                    under the stars
Unable to spy safe passage
to trails our forebears trod
with gritty toes and grace.

(By which I mean:
                          Hissing of Birch Bark Tea in charred pot
                          Crooked sticks perched above the blazing log.)

Jesse Eckerlin is an emerging poet from Cantley Qc currently living in Montreal and studying English literature at Concordia University. He is undertaking an apprenticeship in organic farming in PEI this summer and is currently interested in working in the interstices of Chan, ecopoetics, and contemporary Canadian vernacular. He has recently begun submitting work to various periodicals. He is open to comments, inquiries, and discussions regarding the written word and can be reached at neither_fish_nor_fowl@hotmail.com.
Back to Issue Seven: Spring 2010