The war had dirtied the snow.
A spray of reddish dust: desiccated earth,
Shreds of maple, hardened blood.
Black particulate: charcoal,
Ash sifted across meadow, stream bank, road.
Tiny paper flakes: cream, blue, green —
Stems and serifs of numbers perceptible on the largest shards.
Mounds of detritus will linger if this snow melts.
What rain? What wind?
To what sea will the April runnels
Bear this pain?
Published online June 01, 2012
Tom Wayman takes full credit for the rise of the “Occupy YOUR TOWN HERE” movement following the publication of his 2009 novel Woodstock Rising (Dundurn), which details the exciting texture of daily life during an earlier period when young people were wrestling with the joys and challenges of seeking an alternative to capitalism. Recent poems appear in EVENT’s 40th anniversary issue (2011) and The Best Canadian Poems in English 2011, edited by Patricia Uppal.
