ZOË LANDALE
Command Key to the Green and Sparkling World
By water and what lies within
by fire and what lies between
by scales by fur and by feathers
by a straight twig
and a pruned one
by blue and the blaze of it bright between
the cover of sky and bed of land
by white clouds and black horses a-wheel
in formation, by lance and pennant fluttering
by penance
by grey nuns
by a canal and a promise
by tadpoles by tulips by their yellow and red
thousands
by the life of a lynx-point cat
by the fragrance of its fur
by afternoon sun
by the west wind
by a house where kitchen counters shine
by bone and fealty
by mended pockets
by a flat line and a red one
by a fir, broken yet growing
by Altair by Sirius by the long hissing breath of a quasar
who could have believed
they could coalesce one another
so completely into being?
Benedictus benedicat
Amen
Zoë Landale lives in Richmond, BC with a large dog and a husband. Her only daughter is old enough
to have left home and has vowed never to be a writer. The poems littering her new place give some question to this.
Landale had a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. She teaches creative writing at Kwantlen
University College. She has five books out, with a sixth,
Once a Murderer, forthcoming from Wolsak & Wynn Press.
(Zoe.Landale@kwantlen.ca)