Description
As the dance floor of life tilts beneath our feet, do we keep dancing? In this inspired collection of Susan Alexander’s poems, we sway to the rhythms of passion, death, grief, and how we are connected in our lives. The individual moments making up the tune of this poet’s life offer the possibility of finding the beauty within the everyday resonance of our own existence.
About the author
Susan Alexander is the winner of the 2016 Short Grain poetry prize and the 2015 Vancouver Writers’ Festival Contest. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in SubTerrain, Arc, CV2, Grain, Room, The Antigonish Review, and PRISM international. She is a regular at Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane’s poetry retreats. For inspiration, Alexander writes from eclectic experiences — as a chambermaid, CBC Radio journalist, stay-at-home mother, waitress, lay preacher, and associate at a boutique investment firm, as well as from her family history and passions. She is an associate member of the League of Canadian Poets
Awards
- Winner, Short Grain poetry prize
- Winner, Vancouver Writers’ Festival Contest
Excerpt: The Dance Floor Tilts (by (author) Susan Alexander)
From “Grief”
That was the winter the tide rose
so high the house and cedars
went underwater. The little light left
was green. It was hard to move,
every step a push against sea water.
When I climbed into the car
to drive to higher ground
the steering wheel was gone,
an octopus in its place.
I couldn’t see out
the window for tentacles.
From “Moon Over Mathews Range, Kenya”
O in this life bless us with the camel’s foot and eye.
May we walk over the shifting surface of things
and not sink. The long lashes and that clear inner eyelid
to protect our sight yet let in light to see.
