Poem of the Month
Untitled (“I will present a huge fire”)

By Natasha Kanapé Fontaine

Published on November 2, 2016

I will present a huge fire
I will burn the residential schools
the paper acts

And with a single gust of wind
brush away every pipeline
the caribou will come
running with the buffalo
the horses the deer
there will be a great trembling

The caribou
the buffalo the horses
the deer will come
with the land
drown the pipelines

We will burn
the residential schools
the paper acts

We will embody
a huge fire.

(Translated from French by Howard Scott)

More Poetry

Hold Tight, Let Go

That was my verdict, six weeks before the shades. January had burst December open. I said let ...

The Story of Bones

The archaeologist’s daughter grew up in tombs. She spent her early childhood crawling through the volcanic ash, which preserved time. Her father dug tunnels in the ground, uncovered death masks, stumbled upon bones of winged beasts, while her baby hands clutched the cold earth.

Archaic Torso

We cannot know his ordinary head except from photographs, eyes wholly terrified. And yet his torso, bent over ...