Someone held a cigarette lighter up to this particular renku in my spring garden on the corner. As a form of criticism, it leaves a lot to be desired. Was it this verse on the front, sent me by Sandra Stephenson as an academic offshoot of rengu or this one I love on [...]

This is the only picture I got of Joanne Arnott, a Metis poet from the West Coast of Canada whose poems on the very essence of women, birthing, mothering and women’s lives are affective and effective while musical at the same time. What she writes makes you hear tunes in your head. Nature [...]

The clothes thing isn’t just me. This is my dear husband in the Persian Lamb hat he is wearing turned endwise. It has earflaps, just the thing for our harsh winters. He doesn’t seem to mind looking like a garden gnome but he won’t wear it in the summer when it would be [...]

Whenever I’m dubious about a new outfit, I wear it to the pool first thing in the morning. Everyone comments about whatever you have on, all the way down to your underwear, no holds barred.
This was a combo blouse and jacket in rayon, an art retrospective including brush strokes with a [...]

So I got a new plunger (sticker/needle) which seemed extremely simple to use for everyone but me. It had a spring-loaded end that seemed fragile but wasn’t, a little yellow light that turned out to be an important button, two sets of numbers, one of which counted back from 6 so when you [...]

TORONTO GLOBE & MAIL, TORONTO STAR, TORONTO SUN, NATIONAL POST, KINGSTON WHIG STANDARD, OTTAWA CITIZEN. My husband and I divide up the contents. We both read all the editorial pages. I handle the Life & Living sections, he reads sports & movie reviews, we both read the comics thoroughly (though I get additional strips from [...]

Picturesque, the two blocks between me and groceries. Old limestone with idyllic streetscape.

So then it is a rude shock to come upon the anytown scenario on this corner, catering mostly to students at the attractive university also close by down many lovely streets.

This could be anywhere in the so-called civilized [...]

I have Dan Lancondeur’s name to credit him with this lovely verse which sits here on my little corner of Canada. Yesterday everyone who came by was hoping the verses would start again soon.

This other was from a renku website. More later.

Tune: Come & Go With Me
BABY PLAN WITH ME!
Baby, no baby, baby, no baby
Bay-be, no baby
Baby, no baby, baby, no baby, baby
Ba-be, no baby, baby,
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoaaaaa
I need some info
Come & go with me
Planned parenthood
I need to see
Before I’m preggers
Sort it out with me
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoaaaaa!
Get, get, get, get
Get that info clear
Tell me [...]

In my book, right now titled, Louisa May in Spandex, she returns to our times along with the creatures she wrote about in her Very First Book. It was NOT Little Women, that over-preachy tome her weird father had a substantial hand in, as Louisa was still in her teens.

No. It [...]