www.philipquinn.ca
"Writer "
(from The SubWay, a collection of poetry)
The Prince Edward Viaduct’s Luminous Veil
Ancient woman fills the valley with
a scaffolding of bone and skin
Makes a bridge of her fingers,
covers them with a fine weave
Imagines clothes for the air, for
that gap in-between the amputee halves of the city
A
Under the supervised construction of
a man known as Roland Caldwell Harris (the waterworks man)
The two halves finally joined in
1919, one big blur now to anyone with fossilized eyes
The subway trains followed in 1966
The old woman keeping count
A launch pad for suicides, 400 in
total, a man or woman jumping every 22 days
This urge to jump
To find that other bridge, that
other way across
The luminous veil, in deed and in
action
How the sun punishes her
Shows the veins of traffic under her
delicate skin
See Not Yet Born
