Storm Still [1 ed.] 9780773583764, 9780886293604

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STORM STILL

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Storm still

David O'Meara

HARBINGER POETRY SERIES an imprint of CARLETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

Copyright © Carleton University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-88629-360-X (paperback) Printed and bound in Canada Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data O'Meara, David, 1968Storm still (Harbinger poetry series ; 7) ISBN 0-88629-360-X I. Title. II. Series PS8579.M359S86 1999 900818-8

C811'.54 C99PR9199.3.O47S86 1999

Cover and author photos: Jeff Hardill Design and interior: BCumming Designs The epigraph on page 1 is from Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Julian and Maddalo," and that on page 35, from Albert Camus' "The Minotaur, or The Stop in Oran," in The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. Carleton University Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended to its publishing program by the Canada Council and the financial assistance of the Ontario Arts Council. The Press would also like to thank the Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation, for their assistance.

Harbinger Poetry Series, Number 7

This book is for my parents, William and Dorothy O'Meara —with love and gratitude.

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CONTENTS AXIS MUNDI Debut 2 On Rural Route #7 4 Veranda 6 A Backyard Map 7 Axis Mundi 9 August 10 Field Crossing 12 SOUNDINGS Trans-Canada 14 Spain 16 Soundings // I Soundings 17 II From the Diary of Don Antonio III Turtle Soup 26 IV Ascension Island J2 THE DESERT Rain j 6 The War Against Television 37 Little Boys 39 Desert Sonnets 40 I Dante 40 II Lear 40 III Igjugarjuk 41 IV The Voyage Out (Woolf) 41 V The Old Man and the Sea 42 VI Postcard from Camus 42 Marquez 43 Um 44

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STORM STILL This Photograph 46 Vancouver November 47 A Half-Remembered Year 49 Floorboards // February Divorce ^j December, 6 a.m. 54 Chinese Quince j j Friction 56 Laminar Flow j/ Ikime-jinja $8 I Arrival 58 II Planetarium j