“This poem is based on a painting by Laura-Leigh Gillard, a visual artist who lives in Copper Cliff, Ontario. She titled her piece Cairdeas (2022), which is an Irish word that means ‘friendship’ or ‘kinship.’ I am responding to that prompt, of two magpies that symbolize two friends, and weaving in a visit to British Columbia. Seeing orcas off the west coast of Vancouver Island is as dear and rare as finding a very good friend who will stand by you in the hardest of times. ‘Cairdeas’ the poem is a sonnet but not in a formal, traditional way. The poem is a birthday gift for my friend, Laura-Leigh, who offered me her painting as a gift earlier this year.”
for Laura-Leigh
Just before dawn, the orcas arrive,
turn themselves upside down in soft rain,
half circles of shadow against silver
of Pacific’s mirror—a Juan de Fuca flash.
Your two birds, on canvas, are still,
caught in brush stroke, branches of berried tree.
Kindreds sit next to one another, brush away
tears, eyes magpie bright, ready to fly.
I look out the wide ferry window,
sailing over the Salish Sea—
full of painted sailboats, gulls, and seals—
writing broken sonnets about the ocean, mountains,
wondering if leaving Departure Bay means
choosing not to arrive anywhere else.
