Poetry World Cup 2025 – Official Selection
Finalist for Canada
Published January 15th, 2024
by Cal Tichenor
Pattering a prayer: window worming
jewels melt down, form in hum-drum.
The leaves are taken in a dreamt
and windless fever.
Grey November
silence just before was your
reporter – the city peaceful
as a gaping moribund –
no choice in grim placidity.
Now pattering: a pariah at
a wireless piano. Playing
preludes by the knock of velvet
hammers. Nature bare – a black
and comprehending nailhead:
the beating of the raindrops like
the knock of beauty at the pupil.
Hair washed black and lashes keen
and blue eyes blinking bubbles like
the puddle's bleak indifference.
Silence thus implied is thy
defier!
Sparrow song is cracked,
the sound of human voices hollowed,
the downpours bound oblivion.
A patter that indicts the ear.
A static lacquer lacking tactic.
About the Poet
Cal Tichenor resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Read the poet's biography on Cal Tichenor's Artist Page.
This poem is included in Comet #1, published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Previously published in Vancouver Poetry Magazine:
memories i wish we didn't share
by Maya Beninteso
Vancouver Poetry Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
- Visit the main Wax Poetry and Art Submissions Page to see all opportunities.
- Visit the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
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