1.
An archaeology of human contact. The map
has been scaled
or whittled down. A jumpy sentence. I am too loud
on the outdoor, restaurant patio. Distanced,
marked and traced.
2.
If what we thought at the beginning had anything
to do with this, with now. Stephen scans
a barcode, surfaces the menu. If prepositions
contain substantive, concussive force. If only.
3.
I fear for that which I currently lack.
The wallpaper
of our former comforts, selves.
Beneath your mask,
I have forgotten the look of your face.
An archaeology of human contact. The map
has been scaled
or whittled down. A jumpy sentence. I am too loud
on the outdoor, restaurant patio. Distanced,
marked and traced.
2.
If what we thought at the beginning had anything
to do with this, with now. Stephen scans
a barcode, surfaces the menu. If prepositions
contain substantive, concussive force. If only.
3.
I fear for that which I currently lack.
The wallpaper
of our former comforts, selves.
Beneath your mask,
I have forgotten the look of your face.
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The author of more than 30 trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, rob mclennan’s recent titles include the short story collection On Beauty (University of Alberta Press, 2024), the poetry collection World’s End (ARP Books, 2023), a suite of pandemic essays, essays in the face of uncertainties (Mansfield Press, 2022), and the anthology groundworks: the best of the third decade of above/ground press 2013-2023 (Invisible Publishing, 2023). The editor/publisher of above/ground press, a chapbook press that recently celebrated 31 years of continuous activity, he is also the current Artistic Director for VERSeFest: Ottawa’s International Poetry Festival.
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