Yom Kippur
from sundown
to sundown
we think of nothing
but food
pouring
glass after glass
of cool lemonade
before clouds steal away
this last summer day
spilt milk and Cheerios
my son and I arguing
this morning
now the bigger mess
left to clear away
the steam
from the pressure cooker
as my dal thickens
the sputter and hiss
of another day's frustration
full August moon—
next door's lovers
laugh and kiss
I sit in the shadows
and eat gazpacho alone
young anarchists—
after the seond bottle
of vodka
the poster of Trotsky
slips from the wall
her sister's suicide—
she begins to overeat
growing big enough
to fill
the space of two
what made you
decide to become
a vegetarian?
they ask, forks poised
over their veal chops
wondering
which amounts to more—
a hill of beans
or a stack
of poems?
An award-winning Montreal haiku and tanka poet, Angela Leuck has been published in journals and anthologies around the world. She is the author of haiku white and haiku noir (carve, 2007) and Flower Heart (Blue Ginkgo Press, 2006). She also edited Rose Haiku for Flower Lovers and Gardeners (Price-Patterson, 2005), Tulip Haiku (Shoreline, 2004), and, with Maxianne Berger, Sun Through the Blinds: Montreal Haiku Today (Shoreline, 2003). She is the Vice President of Haiku Canada and co-founder of Tanka Canada and its bi-annual journal Gusts.
An award-winning Montreal haiku and tanka poet, Angela Leuck has been published in journals and anthologies around the world. She is the author of haiku white and haiku noir (carve, 2007) and Flower Heart (Blue Ginkgo Press, 2006). She also edited Rose Haiku for Flower Lovers and Gardeners (Price-Patterson, 2005), Tulip Haiku (Shoreline, 2004), and, with Maxianne Berger, Sun Through the Blinds: Montreal Haiku Today (Shoreline, 2003). She is the Vice President of Haiku Canada and co-founder of Tanka Canada and its bi-annual journal Gusts.