Poetry, etc.

I have three readings this month — one in Hamilton and two in Toronto. After this I’m taking a long break from doing readings. Really need to finish my next book . . . in addition to many other resolutions. Wasn’t very successful with last years resolution of  “be more of a hermit.” We’ll see how I do this year.

Here are my three readings:

Sunday, January 3rd @ The Sky Dragon Centre: 27 King William Street, Hamilton. 7:30 pm. Lit Live Reading Series.

http://litlive.blogspot.com/

Sunday, January 10th @ The Free Times Cafe: 320 College Street, Toronto. 7:30 pm. WordJam Reading Series — the second last one! Series ends in February.

Sunday, January 17th @ The Central: 603 Markham Street, Toronto. 6 pm. Plasticine Poetry Series.

I’m reading tonight at the Art Bar with Andrea Jarmai and Dane Swan.  The readings get going shortly after 8 pm @ Clinton’s Tavern: 693 Bloor Street West.

http://artbar.org/

side note: full moon tonight (2:30 am EST)

Tonight is the launch of Valentino Assenza’s Making Peace with Rattlesnakes, James Deahl’s No Star is Lost, Donna Langevin’s The Middle-aged Man in the Sea, and Bruce Meyer’s Bread.  8pm at The Annex Live: 296 Brunswick Ave. Lyricalmyrical produces unique hand-sewn, hand-bound hardcover books. I did the cover art for Donna’s book which has disarmingly beautiful poems based on her experiences in Cuba.

Cover for Donna Langevin's The Middle-aged Man in the Sea

I’m reading this Sunday, Nov. 15th at the Guernica Launch (short reading, 5 minutes).

Orvieto: Urbs vetus by William Anselmi (City Series)

Conjuring Jesus by Brian Day (Essential Poets Series)

A Place in the World by Robert Flanagan (Essential Poets Series)

The Trestler House by Madeleine Ouellette-Michalska
Translated by W. Donald Wilson (Prose Series)

I have one poem published in the most recent issue of the UK magazine Dream Catcher.  Issue #23 is dedicated entirely to Canadian writing.  Apparently there hasn’t been an exclusively Canadian issue of a literary magazine from the UK for fifteen years.

http://dreamcatchermagazine.co.uk/page132.aspx

A Victorian Life

My life began drearily –
daughter of a minor clerk
and a woman who died in childbirth.
At twenty, courted by a melancholic
who threatened suicide if we didn’t marry.
Tired of dragging my petticoats through sludge,
I acquiesced.
We were happy for a while
until he frequented brothels.
Soon after, his “precious angel”
became “lunatic whore.”

Cast adrift, I discovered
the bohemian circle – artist faces
gloomy as the maroon of parlour walls.
I investigated spiritualism and theosophy,
joined a secret society –
an offshoot of the Golden Dawn.
Remarried, a magus.
We were mad for each other, twin souls,
until he became violently ill
from a malady no doctor could name
(though I suspect malevolence).

Richly inherited,
I packed my late husband’s regalia,
fled to Canada and crossed it by rail –
registering under a pseudonym
at the Empress Hotel.

Visitors come and go.
Daily I read tea leaves
for signs of the approaching century:
a raven perched on a cross,
a sword piercing a cloud.

Copyright © Clara Blackwood 2009

(published in Dream Catcher 23)

This photo was taken inside the Sydenham St. United Church in Kingston, Ontario on April 15th. Looks like I’m in the midst of an astral projection…