Preview of forthcoming Echo Gods and Silent Mountains by Patrick Woodcock (ECW PRESS)

By Patrick Woodcock
Lunch By The River
And construction commenced with a crack in the mountains
And the river was dry, as dry as our throats
And deboning a fish meant no fish would be eaten
And the washroom had two guards, one guarding a tree

And the river was dry, as dry as our throats
And the cranes sang of digging, of metal and stone
And the washroom had two guards, one guarding a tree
And the bridge was unsafe and about to be painted

And the cranes sang of digging, of metal and stone
And the clouds looked like daggers in rivers of blue
And the bridge was unsafe and about to be painted
And a man and his children played with miniature soldiers

Now the clouds flowed like daggers in rivers of blue
As our arms called for waiters and wonder and water
While the man and his children packed up their toy soldiers
And both worker and sun retired to the mountains

Note To My Canadian Self
By Patrick Woodcock
When a friend is talking
about his village being bombed,
and the number of people
who had to find shelter
in his family’s cave, don’t think
about John Candy as Pepi Longsocks
and start laughing.