What do you think?
Rate this book
Aurora
Loved and admired by readers for the grace of her language and the humanity of her vision, Sharon Thesen is one of Canada’s finest and most respected poets. Thesen’s poems express the pleasure and magic of a language fully transformed into visions of grace.
- GenresPoetry
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
7 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 21, 2022
I drive the car & pick up my friend
at her house, she comes out
the red door, I'm five minutes late
& we're laughing tragically by the time we
go past the SPCA.
The road is black after dark rain
and it ends in the sea. Big semis
are minotaurs, some have smoke-stacks.
The air strings from tiny black particles
they blow at it, burdened and in a hurry
I put her in drive
& then I drive her & this
is what I do, I drive
the car.
* * *
Sponge dribbles hot
bathwater over shoulder-blades, one side,
other side, again and again in a trance -
Coolness finally assuaged, blade-sharpness
rounded and relaxed in the slump of bath-
posture - who cares? - and slump
farther into perfect heat -
The difficulty is finding the will
to get up out of it, to return & is
a bit like living. So I rub a space
into the fogged surface of the mirror,
finding myself there whole and large,
streaming water, strange bare animal
requiring a greeting.
* * *
A stone circumference
cold & echoing
hoards the water
in the well. It sloshes
there, dark and quiet.
Its deep obsidian
reflects the lost look
on the face of the Girl
of the Limberlost who goes
there against her will, beaten
& terrorized into submission.
Well. She'll live, go on
with blue eyes, black hair
into the big city.
* * *
Snapdragons -
pink and silver voices -
sun late to go -
someone plunking out
Mood Indigo -
Sweet time
of honey and sunflower, Byzantine
light through the sprinklers -
& meanings, for sure.
* * *
Each of the cold sandwiches is
not are. The ditto machine concurs,
alcohol damp purple instructions
wafting to a tray. Will
flies in and out with voice mail
in his hands.
In my office I was in Mexico
enduring my identity.
It wouldn't matter he's the same
age as my father. That we stood
on a beach never alone. That
there was a sense of rightness:
my perpetual perplexity.
* * *
Do something hard
as tires one out
by 7:30, ready
to hit the hay
At sundown.
All through the dark
how soft a sighing
the wind makes!
Then sunrise
- a subtle
slow change in the hue
of the pillow case.
* * *
Garland remains of the starry dynamo surround her
Galactic waterfall shred & threads over stone
And stone steep downward, the many kilowatts
feed cities, farms, basement operations.
Get the generator going. Fan blades churn a
Cumulus build-up, lights on, elevator up & down,
Everyone tied to phone or link. The risen cities
Of human splendor, cozy lounge, agencies,
Dog obedience school where two fall in love but there
Are complications not insurmountable, he has tinnitus
She's married eventually they'll join forces
Meantime our Queen beautiful and thrilling
Commanding both pipeline and angels
Evincing wrath at the fleeing night
Aswarm in garlands and little babies, prancing horses
Gilded wheels disperse the dark cumulus the hideous nightmare
The lying awake alone with sore tooth, so beautiful
The beginning of days brightening!
at her house, she comes out
the red door, I'm five minutes late
& we're laughing tragically by the time we
go past the SPCA.
The road is black after dark rain
and it ends in the sea. Big semis
are minotaurs, some have smoke-stacks.
The air strings from tiny black particles
they blow at it, burdened and in a hurry
I put her in drive
& then I drive her & this
is what I do, I drive
the car.
- pg. 15
* * *
Sponge dribbles hot
bathwater over shoulder-blades, one side,
other side, again and again in a trance -
Coolness finally assuaged, blade-sharpness
rounded and relaxed in the slump of bath-
posture - who cares? - and slump
farther into perfect heat -
The difficulty is finding the will
to get up out of it, to return & is
a bit like living. So I rub a space
into the fogged surface of the mirror,
finding myself there whole and large,
streaming water, strange bare animal
requiring a greeting.
- Cold Shoulder, pg. 20
* * *
A stone circumference
cold & echoing
hoards the water
in the well. It sloshes
there, dark and quiet.
Its deep obsidian
reflects the lost look
on the face of the Girl
of the Limberlost who goes
there against her will, beaten
& terrorized into submission.
Well. She'll live, go on
with blue eyes, black hair
into the big city.
- The Well, pg. 29
* * *
Snapdragons -
pink and silver voices -
sun late to go -
someone plunking out
Mood Indigo -
Sweet time
of honey and sunflower, Byzantine
light through the sprinklers -
& meanings, for sure.
- Late Summer, pg. 33
* * *
Each of the cold sandwiches is
not are. The ditto machine concurs,
alcohol damp purple instructions
wafting to a tray. Will
flies in and out with voice mail
in his hands.
In my office I was in Mexico
enduring my identity.
It wouldn't matter he's the same
age as my father. That we stood
on a beach never alone. That
there was a sense of rightness:
my perpetual perplexity.
- Agreement, pg. 39
* * *
Do something hard
as tires one out
by 7:30, ready
to hit the hay
At sundown.
All through the dark
how soft a sighing
the wind makes!
Then sunrise
- a subtle
slow change in the hue
of the pillow case.
- Insomnia, pg. 41
* * *
Garland remains of the starry dynamo surround her
Galactic waterfall shred & threads over stone
And stone steep downward, the many kilowatts
feed cities, farms, basement operations.
Get the generator going. Fan blades churn a
Cumulus build-up, lights on, elevator up & down,
Everyone tied to phone or link. The risen cities
Of human splendor, cozy lounge, agencies,
Dog obedience school where two fall in love but there
Are complications not insurmountable, he has tinnitus
She's married eventually they'll join forces
Meantime our Queen beautiful and thrilling
Commanding both pipeline and angels
Evincing wrath at the fleeing night
Aswarm in garlands and little babies, prancing horses
Gilded wheels disperse the dark cumulus the hideous nightmare
The lying awake alone with sore tooth, so beautiful
The beginning of days brightening!
- Aurora, pg. 59-60
Displaying 1 of 1 review