Tuning Fork
in the space between anything and ancestor let us attune to the frequency of what has not yet been lost two daughters wed beneath a birch tree twelve lilies, pink, wrapped in paper inside the sound of sunset is a red banner proclaiming NO MORE RENTS no more trains on their way to lengthen pipelines no defendants arrested against the tracks no bicycles painted white at the intersection may these days of ending allow us still to water the marigold seedlings, morning-bright let there be fig squares, broken in half let there be music and synchronized movement let there be the goodbyes we waited for our whole lives, let there be our whole lives our laughter, effervescing and errant I would choose it again, yes, every time
Photo Credit: Albert Hoang
Jody Chan is a poet, multidisciplinary artist, care worker, and community organizer based in Toronto. They are the author of three books of poetry: sick (Black Lawrence Press, 2020), finalist for the Lambda Literary and Pat Lowther Memorial Awards, and winner of the 2018 St. Lawrence Book Award and 2021 Trillium Award for Poetry; impact statement (Brick Books, 2024), finalist for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award; and madness belongs to the people (Brick Books, forthcoming 2026).