Poetry

Chris Ford photo

By

Penn Kemp

Smog Alert

Throughout our listening area

light pollution. Evening hazedrifts

down from some secret smelter

depending on which wind blows. Small

particulate matter fills the air, fills

our lungs with tiny lumps that hang there

undetected. Except we can no longer fully

breathe. Cosmic clouds descend upon us.

Below breath. Below thought. Below bellow.

Probability of precipitation. Mixed rain

and thunder showers. Severe weather

warning. War in heaven, warming

torrents into twisters. Forecast unforeseen.

The radio calls for showers. Fog patches.

Clouds clog the mind, crowding thought.

Now calm come… clear of cloud…

I’m thinking stars. Or stars are thinking me.

Where are they? Beyond the veil, still

twinkling, emitting their own dust trails.

Penn Kemp

Penn Kemp is an activist Canadian poet, playwright and editor.  Her latest works are two plays celebrating local hero and explorer, Teresa Harris, produced in 2017 and published by Playwrights Guild of Canada. Recent books include Barbaric Cultural Practice (quattrobooks.ca/books/barbaric-cultural-practice/) and two anthologies edited, Women and Multimedia and Performing Women (http://poets.ca/feministcaucus/livingarchives/). See www.pennkemp.weebly.com.