Welcome to Poetic Licence – a weekly poetry forum, hosted by us, featuring words by local poets. This week? Nora Grove.
Vancouver Shadows
Vancouver my home town
I don’t know you
a flock of long necked
steel beaked cranes
lands in the heart of our city
construct high rise nests
their concrete and glass towers
create wind tunnels
cast shadows on streets below
a plague of shadows
infects our inner city
survivors huddle
wrapped in newspapers
soiled sleeping bags
in alleyways doorways on sidewalks
panhandle deal shoot up
scavengers like scrawny
birds of prey
push stolen shopping carts
scour back alleys
to feed on garbage
alleys where they can
piss puke passout
sometimes forever
one dumpster dive too many
911 911 9
Nora is a published poet and member of the Women Who Write SFU group and the Roundhouse Poetry Circle. She is a winner of the 2012 Aspiring Canadian Poet contest and was short listed in the 2016 West End Writers Club poetry contest.
To submit your own poetry to Poetic Licence, email [email protected] with Poetry Column in the subject line. Include your poem, full name, contact details and bio. Only those selected for the column will be contacted.
