we've been out dancing
by Gabriela Halas
Throb of blood
flows
like sweet sap
to rhythms
both old,
and unorthodox.
Could the pluck
of grass
be set
to measure?
The pull
of water
from an upturned
palm
be set
to song?
Share:
Sometimes the beauty of poetry is in its simplicity—the ability to convey a lot w ith so little, in tangible, literal words. Nothing shrouded, nothing obscure or abstract. The word 'simplicity' is not often used in a positive way with poetry but I feel like that can be such a strength. The poem "we've been out dancing" is just that, a way to celebrate movement in our bodies that feels both ancien and like we are experiencing it for the first time.
....................................................................................................................................................................................
GABRIELA HALAS immigrated to Canada during the early 1980s, grew up in Alberta, lived in Alaska for seven years, and currently resides in British Columbia. She has published poetry in a variety of literary journals including The Antigonish Review, Cider Press Review, About Place Journal, Prairie Fire, december magazine, and The Hopper, among others; fiction in Room Magazine, Ruminate, The Hopper, and subTerrain, among others; and nonfiction in Alaska Quarterly Review, The Whitefish Review, Grain, Pilgrimage, and High Country News. She won first prize for her poetry chapbook Bloodwater Tint from Backbone Press (forthcoming). She holds an MFA from the University of British Columbia and lives and writes on Ktunaxa Nation land. gabrielahalas.org