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ANNIVERSARY

ANNIVERSARY

by Laurie Lewis

I will want to make plans
for Thursday.
It’s the anniversary of a death.

I hope the sun will shine
and then I will
do something cheerful.
That would be a good idea.

Actually
there are a lot of them now,
anniversaries of deaths,
of old friends leaving.

I will want to develop a ritual.

Perhaps I’ll call it 
breathing.

About this Poem

Cover of Love and All that Jazz

This poem is from the latest Laurie Lewis book, called Second Wind, to be published in Kingston as the year changes to 2022. Laurie's autobiographical works Little Comrades (2011) and Love, & All That Jazz (2013) are in the KFPL collection. Two of her earlier poems, "A Pause" and "Sometimes a dead poet", have also appeared on the Poetry Blackboard.

Joy Journals

Jason Heroux is interested in seeing what your "joy journal" looks like. What sort of images and moments and memories would be in there? Please send an example of a page from your joy journal to poetlaureate@cityofkingston.ca with the words "Joy Journal" in the subject line. It can be a poem, a list, a paragraph ... anything you like. A few submissions may be selected to appear as upcoming posts on the Poetry Blackboard.

About the Poetry Blackboard

The Poetry Blackboard showcases poems curated by Kingston's Poet Laureate and written by Kingston poets. There's a new poem every month, written by poets living and dead, historical and contemporary, published and unpublished, adults and children, giving full range to the cultural voice of Kingston. Started in 2015 by Helen Humphreys, the Poetry Blackboard has been continued since 2019 by Jason Heroux.

We wish to thank Helen Humphreys, Kingston's second Poet Laureate, for her generous support of emerging and established poets in Kingston through library programming and our Poetry Blackboard project. Throughout her four years as Poet Laureate, Helen curated a digital collection of poetry to showcase the talents of local creators of all ages, both historic and contemporary. Helen also offered several opportunities for emerging poets to develop their craft, offering group workshops and one-on-one mentorship. Her active engagement with the library and community has been greatly appreciated.

In 2019 we welcomed the incoming Poet Laureate, Jason Heroux, who continues to curate the Poetry Blackboard and to develop new community programming.

Previously Published Poems