Cockapoo: the perfect pet; Let's close all the schools; Are you a poet?
3 Things this week and a poem
We're buried in snow again in Ontario. Hope you're warm and cozy wherever your reading this.
I'm in the back of an Uber on my way to catch a train to TO to see Come From Away with my brother-in-law. The show must go on! (Even if there's no parking in the City due to snow).
Thanks for spending part of your weekend with Things I Wrote wrote Down. Here are three things and a poem.
1. Cockapoo: the perfect pet
We think so. We're enjoying our latest edition to the family: Toby, the cockapoo.
We didn't expect to be hit with the flu or to have the kitchen renovation get delayed so that our first week with the pup was in the midst of crazy our household (with a few snow days to boot). But we're having fun with Toby and he fits right in.
Cockapoos are such a unique breed. They appeared in the 1950s when US breeders brought the mini poodle and the cocker spaniel into a perfect genetic union. They're smart, loyal, hypoallergenic and known as the teddy bear dog. Here's some info about the breed if you're looking.
2. Let's close all the schools
The snow fell and fell. The buses were cancelled. Then the schools.
We knew that we were in for it when they cancelled parent teacher interviews the day before the big snow.
But, in the decade I've lived out East, I can't recall all schools in Ontario and Quebec closing their doors, which they did on Thursday.
The biggest snowstorm in years is in the midst of dumping 50 cm of snow. Wishing I didn't sell my snow blower on FB Marketplace.
3. Are you a poet?
This week I announced that I'm hosting the First Ever Poetry Contest here on Things I Wrote Down.
The theme of this year's contest is Building Up.
In times when public discourse is so focused on shame and taking people down (or knocking them out), I thought it’d be meaningful to do something different.
The contest comes with four incredible judges:
Liturgist and ecologist, the British poet
Prolific and profound, Canadian writer
Poet and humanitarian, the Australian writer
Best-selling author and filmmaker, my brother
Learn more about the contest and enter here.
Have you checked out The 49 yet? It’s my new fiction series. New content each week.
A poem
Contests and writing workshops have been a real encouragement for me as a writer, and I hope my little contest can similarly inspire others to take the risk to write and share. Sometimes all we need is an opportunity.
Here's a poem I submitted to the Utmost contest and was selected some time ago. I don't know if it still runs, but it was a wonderful opportunity for writers back in the day.
God
i.
he’s a miserable being
stuck with the knowledge
of their secret sin
a doctor who
treats chlamydia
before lunch
when he closes his eyes
he cannot
shake
the image of the gunshot wound
to the head of their whole race
he cannot wash his collar
or chin
splattered as they are
with blood
he’s an unhappy being
with a front row seat to
madness
ii.
love
what a dangerous thing
to put in their hands
that could
tear apart the world
with one small touch
iii.
from the looks of it
you don’t seem a vulnerable
roughed-up God
one small bird fallen from its nest
feathers plucked
mercilessly
by the pastor’s
son down the street
iv.
he could kill you with one short breath
snap your bones like celery
he could locate your heart
and give it a final, terrible blow
v.
he is capable of such kind things
a gentle hand that does not fear
the boundary of touch
he breaches cold pools of isolation
softly nudging the soul to hope again
vi.
and you put your
thumb on it
a strong
jointed thumb
turned it
deeply into
the grain of my
flesh
kneaded sore
muscle like
dough
vii.
what confidence
you must have
in your
name
that you
would allow
silence
the poem is both on and "Off the Chain" as they say. Smacked me like a brick gentle lovestroke to the face
Thank you for putting on the poetry contest. I'm originally from Ontario. Our couple inches of snow this winter just melted in BC.