At a Distance
That phrase — at a distance — is from the opening line of Michael Penny’s ‘Kalaloch Beach, WA’ (Issue 29), a stunning poem in which the speaker encounters a decaying beached whale.
At a distance also poignantly captures the spirit of a new poem that Michael has generously gifted us, one set in a very different, but now all-too-familiar, place.
About ‘Through a Screen Darkly’ Michael tells us, ‘The current pandemic restrictions mean that we cannot live our lives exactly as we might want. But this has always been true—we imagine, plan, and hope for many lives, but there’s just the one we do live. Suppose that all those other unlived lives are still out there, somewhere. And what if all those other could-have-been lives showed up at a (pandemically driven) on-screen meeting. It is all virtual, isn’t it?’
Through a Screen Darkly
by Michael Penny
I reach my other selves
in the universes next door
via a black hole Zoom.
We know each other
so well, but left-handed
and living other lives.
All my ages and agendas
of how I got the life I have
and the others I didn’t, all line up,
squared in gallery view,
each the same name and settings,
videos lit on and sound unmuted.
There is no red oval
to click for “Leave”
and that proves
that me in all my multitude
is still known, there,
and invited to the meeting.
To read ‘Kalaloch Beach, WA’, and for more from Issue 29, visit our bookstore!
Michael Penny has published five books, most recently Outside, Inside (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014.) He lives on Bowen Island.
Discover more from PULP Literature
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Leave a Reply