A Poem by Ben Ladouceur

by Mark Bibbins, Editor

Quietism

All hours away from the hearth make us shake

Not all shaking hours occur away from the hearth

The smallest and the only indivisible unit of men is two men

There’s nothing like an ice-cold shower after a spell in the sauna

Antigens springing from each inch of skin as innermost forces evict them

The one you love doesn’t open a door you contain but rather he carefully lifts the door off its hinges and makes a fire from the wood and then he reads by the light of that fire

The inner child’s mission persisting like a garden that has learned to maintain itself

The body in the custody of bone

You only love once

This is because each love negates the previous love

When you say something into the world you give the world a chance to reply with silence

Ben Ladouceur received the Earle Birney Poetry Prize in 2013. He’s had poems in The Walrus and North American Review. Coach House Books recently published his first book, Otter.

You will find more poems here. You may contact the editor at [email protected].