"Daintier, Terribler"
Ben Gallagher
Ben Gallagher is a poet and essayist currently living between Toronto, ON, and Lunenburg, NS. He is in the middle of a PhD at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, researching non-linear pedagogy and poetic practices in community poetry workshops. He recently became a father and spends large portions of his day happily stacking blocks and picking up cereal from under the high chair. Recent work can be found in untethered, Sewer Lid, The Puritan, (parenthetical), and Arc, among other places.

One thrown snowball away
from a torn rotator cuff
and so the world goes
Today you were born, once
I reflect on death
and how nothing really changes
still hoping for love
the plans, affirmed, and family
only there’s a thorn
which is you
which is me, heavy
and the moon crescent
faint glow
the soul at play
even when I don’t
feel like playing
