Suchergebnisse

A close reading of a series of poems by contemporary poet, novelist, and political theorist B. W. Powe reveals a subtle theory of single parenthood and divorce. A three-part literary conceit by Powe is analyzed for its comparison between divorce, treaty, and biblical themes of expulsion. Inferences are drawn about the effect of legally structured relationships in Canadian families after divorce. Leaving aside discussions from law and literature, further conclusions are considered about the usefulness of close readings of Canadian poetry to ethnographic law and society research. Suggestions are made for enlarging the critical research tools available to Canadian legal consciousness research by engaging some Canadian poetry.

This poem examines some of the feelings of paternalism the author had for small lizards, insects, and arachnids that he encountered in the forests of the Niagara Escarpment, when he was in early grade school. As a child, unrequited feelings of paternalism made the world of non-domesticated animals a mystery. Only later in adult life did he interrogate these early memories of encounter with animals as part of a gendered society.

The poet's seven-year romantic relationship with another writer ended in 2017. They were not married, but they did make a non-nuclear family. The poet reflects on positive, mutually supportive aspects of the relationship such as poetry, career support, food politics, exploring urban environments, and metaphors for justice. The poem reflects on how feelings of remorse, regret, and alienation, are structured by the idioms that shaped their lives together, but now are obsolete, retrograde, but still beautiful as sentimentality. The poem is offered here as an example of artwork generated by the paradoxes of a family dissolved: apology without reconciliation, a state of closure in a state of separation.

The poem imagines a cliché conflict between a parent and a child over eating asparagus. It capitalizes on the idea of telling a kid they can't leave the table until they try a bite of yucky food. It takes a twee turn toward the genre of horror by making allusions to the catacombs beneath Egyptian pyramids. The poem attempts to be either a vague monster movie shadow, or a Sesame Street style joke. As parents, we've all tried to walk an edgy-cute line, making allusions but staying creatively fun, even while exasperated.

This personal essay reflects on adolescent experiences of sport. The author points out how middle school is a time when he began develop critical consciousness, by thinking about the political power of space, place, time, and social hierarchies, through his experiences of Track and Field Day and Boy Scout camp.

Poetry

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