by Eleonore Schönmaier

The police squint
into the glare on the water looking
for small boats. On a clear day
the lightkeeper sees all the way
to Algeria. Over his sofa
hangs a tapestry woven
by his grandmother from red
human hair. Only the birds
travel without papers.
Though often now
their tiny legs
when they perch
on the lighthouse railings
are colour banded.

Eleonore Schönmaier’s poetry collection Treading Fast Rivers (McGill-Queen’s University Press) was a finalist for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for best first book of poetry by a Canadian. Most recently her poetry has been published in Event, The Fiddlehead, Arc, Canadian Literature and To Find Us: Words and Images of Halifax. Eleonore currently divides her time between the south shore of Nova Scotia and coastal Europe.