A Map in My Blood

By (author): Carla Braidek

Traditional poetry continues to hold its place in contemporary literature, in part, because of the emergence of women whose writing is informed by tradition but whose subject matter crystalizes in the personal search for meaning. This work represents a search through life, querying events and ideas. Thoughts are offered and ideas considered, but no real conclusion is reached as life’s constant flux shifts the perspective and importance of every event. Everyday moments and seemingly inconsequential acts are allowed their due while peace and strength show through the loss and effort.


In the backdrop to the poems, the boreal forest comes alive, poems begin there:
I spent the entire day walking poplar brush and spruce groves
stretched out for a bit in waist-high grass in the meadow beyond the birches
worked my slow way beneath the willows where beaver wore a path
through stones that rim the slough next to Little Winter Lake


And poems end there:


young throats yip
coyote pups on the ridge
beckon the moon as feet slap boards
stretched to the drowning sun
leap into rippled silver


The forest, the woman, and poem share the work for meaning in these poems and this is what creates their beauty as much as the carefully chosen words that convey it.

AUTHOR

Carla Braidek

Carla Braidek lives and writes in the boreal forest near Big River, Saskatchewan. Her book Carrying the Sun (Thistledown, 2005) was short-listed for the Saskatchewan Book Award for poetry. Her work is also published in her chapbook Quickening, the Hagios Press anthology New Saskatchewan Poets, and various literary magazines. In 2010 Carla had the good fortune to attend Emma, an international artists’ collaboration. Her poetry was included in the full-length documentary, Unplugged – Emma 2010 Collaboration, that was filmed during that time. Carla has taught in classrooms from grade 1 to 12, as well as outdoors, in libraries, and on city streets. She was both a guest speaker and a facilitator for the Sage Hill Teen Writing Experience. Recently she is exploring the world by way of the personal essay.

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Excerpts & Samples ×

flames corralled within this pit  lick
rocks like blackbirds flicker reeds
silhouettes dance the once bright beach
pluck stars to throw on sand with
the randomness of raindrops sparking slate
quick bare feet avoid the sting

young throats yip           
coyote pups on the ridge
beckon the moon as feet slap boards
stretched to the drowning sun
leap into rippled silver

damp air lays its fingers on shoulders
run to stand by the jackpine fire
wrap skinny arms about your chest
wet hair snakes a cheek as you grin        
an ember in ash     prepared
to hurl yourself through dark

Reader Reviews

Details

Dimensions:

80 Pages
8.5in * 5.5in * .2in
250gr

Published:

April 15, 2016

Publisher:

Thistledown Press

ISBN:

9781771870962

Book Subjects:

POETRY / Canadian

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

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