THE RUSTY TOQUE
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BARDIA SINAEE


The Rusty Toque | Issue 10 | Poetry | June 30, 2016

BLOOD WORK


1.
Out with the sun and the succulent jade
It is the squelching armpit of August
When simply living is enough for people
Approaching each other with a put-upon look
This weather, what it does to you
 
Otherwise one must always look ahead
The potted cuttings abound with late growth
The park is dedicated to the missing girl
Love is for the lucky and the brave
You will experience good health

2.
There’s a joke about a juice box and a catheter
The nurse with all the piercings likes to tell
But all is haste and consternation
The doctors are braced for an arresting discovery
Consulting their palette of opiates
Devising new ways to infiltrate the living organism

Now that the counts are down
Visitors are mild and deferential
You struggle to remember what they say
Grateful that at least the counts are in
The nurse applies a swab and starts to spin

3.
If you have trouble keeping track of time
If you feel you’re being punished
If you have trouble with basic tasks
Lifting a water glass
 
No one will hold it against you
It’s like when you were younger
Someone is keeping an eye on you
It’s getting dark and someone is driving you home

CHEMO DAYS


My knees are toast, my hair is falling
The forecast is calling for a foot of rain
Lots of people wait for chemo
Wearing brightly coloured ponchos
Dripping, tacky ghosts line up to pee
Or take a number at the pharmacy
 
I'll wait a little longer or a while
Nodding hello to other patients
Who have allies on the staff at all the stations
Lots of people sit or stroll
With little bags of poison hung on poles
Nurses stop to ask me how I feel
People say my outlook could save me
But all they gave me was this coat rack on wheels

AFTER SCHUYLER


Darker sooner again and colder as
the sky went from gym-mat-blue to stone-
grey. I’ve done every daily
crossword since you left, noting
for your amusement
the more uninspired clues, for instance
twelve across on Tuesday November 3,
a four-letter word for “flier,”
was “bird.” Dear Gemini,
today the planets warn
your selflessness will be used
against you by a Capricorn. Please
tell me, call me out if ever
this is true. I shouldn’t like to be
spoken to in placating tones, I think,
only to be vibrant like
a Japanese maple against
muted pines. Still, one
chill wind and I’m back
inside, plotting my triumphant
return as well as yours,
repotting the convalescent jade so that
it might live to greet you
with the sun under curfew.
BARDIA SINAEE is the author of the chapbook Blue Night Express (Anstruther Press). His poems have most recently appeared in The Malahat Review and Best Canadian Poetry 2015 (Tightrope Books). He lives in Toronto.
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  • Home
    • Issue 1 >
      • Creative Nonfiction: 1
      • Fiction: 1
      • Screenwriting: 1
      • Poetry: 1
      • Contributors: 1
    • Issue 2 >
      • Visual Art: 2
      • Fiction: 2
      • Poetry: 2
      • Masthead: 2
      • Contributors: 2
    • Issue 3 >
      • Poetry: 3
      • Visual Art: 3
      • Comics: 3
      • Fiction: 3
      • Reviews: 3
      • Masthead: 3
      • Contributors: 3
    • Issue 4 >
      • Prose: 4
      • Poetry: 4
      • Reviews: 4
      • Visual Art: 4
      • Contributors: 4
      • Masthead: 4
    • Issue 5 >
      • Nonfiction Kathy Acker & McKenzie Wark
      • Drama: 5
      • Prose: 5
      • Poetry: 5
      • Film: 5
      • Comics: 5
      • Reviews: 5
      • Visual Art: 5
      • Video & Sound: 5
      • Masthead: 5
      • Contributors: 5
    • Issue 6 >
      • Poetry: 6
      • Prose: 6
      • Reviews: 6
      • Film: 6
      • Visual Art: 6
      • Masthead: 6
      • Contributors: 6
    • Issue 7 >
      • Film: 7
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      • Poetry: 7
      • Reviews: 7
      • Visual Art: 7
      • Comics: 7
      • Masthead: 7
      • Contributors: 7
    • Issue 8 >
      • Poetry: 8
      • Prose: 8
      • Visual Art: 8
      • Comics: 8
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      • Contributors: 8
      • Masthead: 8
    • Issue 9 >
      • Poetry: 9
      • Prose: 9
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      • Visual Art: 9
      • Reviews: 9
      • Contributors: 9
      • Masthead: 9
    • Issue 10 >
      • Poetry: 10
      • Fiction: 10
      • Reviews: 10
      • Visual Art: 10
      • Film: 10
      • Comics: 10
      • Contributors: 10
      • Masthead: 10
    • Issue 11 >
      • Poetry: 11
      • Prose: 11
      • Reviews: 11
      • Visual Art: 11
      • Comics: 11
      • Contributors: 11
      • Masthead: 11
    • Issue 12 >
      • Poetry: 12
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    • Issue 13 >
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