Robert Martens grew up in the ethnic Mennonite village of Yarrow, where he experienced love and power face-to-face. He moved on to the global awakening which was Simon Fraser University during its years of student revolt. Robert eventually settled in Abbotsford, where he has co-written and co-edited numerous local histories, periodicals, and a literary anthology,…
A few minutes to nightfall at a weathered farm in northern British Columbia: Ted Avery, a long-bearded octogenarian, sits on his back porch and scans the treeline on the edge of his yard for wayward creatures that might have the audacity to approach before the sun goes down. This is a dance Ted and those…
It had been about six weeks since she moved out, and it was time I found something new to do other than sitting around watching the laundry not do itself. I was thumbing through a week-old issue of Q or NME I had found on the tube and saw this ad in the back: Punk…
funerary afterparty Lean on the brown ledge looking out or maybe at the prism dew suspended on the windowpane count brown leaves struck down by rain. Mesmerized by the violence of it all. in white hands an empty ashtray, the veins protruding up the wrist. cradle hands on knees, ashtray pulling at stiff cotton. behind…
Pretend Everything’s Pretend How am I supposed to succeed In a world so fake Obsessed with cheap antics Made to persuade Another worthless product Another dollar to be made Sold to fickle people As way to evade Away from their lives Away from their problems A shiny piece of plastic To maintain a bubble-wrapped life…
April A colleague cried this morning, and not for no reason. I kneel in front of her and hope her hangnail will stop bleeding. The only other thing I can think about is that the tiny gem of her nose ring has rolled inward. I wonder if she will fix it. I wonder if she…
I Bruise Easy I bruise easy, but I heal fast In every way you can imagine. It doesn’t take too much To make the blood pool up to the surface And leave a noticeable mark. But in what seems to everyone else As a blink of an eye It’s like it was never there to…
Close your eyes and put aside your pride as you enter your center. The mentor you need is indeed your center so heed his intent and you’re never defeated. Conceited, you’re sent to repent and you will — the aim is restraining your brain and being still so take what you will from the words…
Weed-whacking Knee-deep in the yard full of weeds, I contemplate familial obligation; even months after those weeds are dormant, roots sleeping underground, the sound of whirring, the wet green fleck of stems furring my legs resists forgetting. Beheading the dandelions requires a firm grip holding the spin and slice at arm’s length. Those tiny plastic…
