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Poetic Licence: 'Âé¶¹´«Ã½Ó³»­Shadows' by Nora Grove

Welcome to Poetic Licence – a weekly poetry forum, hosted by us, featuring words by local poets. This week? Nora Grove.
poem

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Welcome to Poetic Licence – a weekly poetry forum, hosted by us, 
featuring words by local poets. This week? Nora Grove.

Ìý

Âé¶¹´«Ã½Ó³»­Shadows

Âé¶¹´«Ã½Ó³»­my home town
I don’t know you

a flock of long necked
steel beaked cranes
lands in the heart of our city
construct high rise nests

their concrete and glass towers
create wind tunnels
cast shadows on streets below

a plague of shadows
infects our inner city

survivors huddle
wrapped in newspapers
soiled sleeping bags
in alleywaysÌýÌýdoorwaysÌýÌýÌýÌýon sidewalks
panhandleÌýÌý dealÌýÌý shoot up

scavengers like scrawny
birds of prey
push stolen shopping carts
scour back alleys
to feed on garbage

alleys where they can
pissÌýÌýpukeÌýÌýpassout
sometimes forever

one dumpster dive too many

911ÌýÌý911 9

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Nora is a published poet and member of the Women Who Write SFU group and the Roundhouse Poetry Circle. She is a winner of the 2012 Aspiring Canadian Poet contest and was short listed in the 2016 West End Writers Club poetry contest.

To submit your own poetry to Poetic Licence, email [email protected] with Poetry Column in the subject line. Include your poem, full name, contact details and bio. Only those selected for the column will be contacted.Ìý

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