current events

current events

Lesley-Anne Evans

the tap gurgles
her soundtrack
then fades to a headline
version of St. Francis' prayer
sung by Sarah MacLaughlin
and a choir
on Youtube. Local traffic
is at a standstill:
my son asleep
one room over, and the dog
curled into a sunbeam
at my feet.
Today’s news: remember to pay
close attention. The economy is
flourishing. Reports say
I am
preserving peach jam futures in
matching canning jars.
A public warning:
in the woods, the close proximity
of a coyote is reported
on the hour by
a pair of stellar jays. Today's weather
is brought to me by the sky
proclaiming wisps
of vapour
moving into and out of
my big screen
window frame.
I consider
my inner voice
prompter and usual script, then
ad-lib as the Sponsor
suggests: go,
broadcast these events
to the world.

---

Lesley-Anne Evans
Poet & Gallery Founder

Lesley-Anne, an Irish-Canadian poet, writes from Feeny Wood, a contemplative Christian woodland retreat in Kelowna, B.C., Canada, on the unceded ancestral territory of the Syilx Okanagan people. Her work is published or forthcoming in Barren Magazine, The Catholic Poetry Room, The Ekphrastic Review, Faith Today, Letters Journal, Presence Magazine, and Soul Lit Journal, among other literary periodicals. Lesley-Anne has been commissioned to write libretto and lyrics for opera and cantata. Her poetry is awarded and anthologized. Lesley-Anne is co-founder of Red Couch, an art gallery for marginalized artists, and co-created SEE:kelowna, a museum exhibit sharing stories of those who have experienced homelessness.

 Photography by Tom Barrett