The Visitor, a poem by Truro poet Lenora Steele about her friend Effie.

Effie is not
homeless, she has a room and a
kitchenette, a shared toilet, the landlord
is on a first name basis with
her social worker, Effie’s rent goes
straight to him.

Once there were bears in California
the woods fat with their smell.
Once bears roamed among redwoods–
aged trees that wouldn’t be felled.

Bears Once, by Halifax writer David Huebert, is a poem about the grizzly bear, once prominent in large swaths of North America, now extinct in California and elsewhere. The poem could as well have been about Nova Scotia’s mainland moose.

let’s tend to the forests like prophets
encourage them to wilder in old growth
and watch them mature into being

raising forests is a poem by Mi’kmaw poet and story teller shalan joudry of L’sitkuk (Bear River First Nation). It’s from her latest collection, Waking Ground.

Muster the troops line up the ranks
A woman’s going to send the tanks
And all of us will give her thanks
Especially weapons manufacturers, banks

A poem written by El Jones on the occasion of this year’s rally and webinar in opposition to the 12th annual Halifax International Security Forum