Born in Toronto, Ontario L'Abbé received a BFA in film and video from York University, and completed a Master's degree in English literature from the University of Guelph. She taught for two years at universities in South Korea, and now works at the University of Toronto. She is also a script reader, a regular reviewer for The Globe and Mail and Canadian Literature, and an occasional contributor to CBC Radio One. Her work has appeared in a number of literary journals and several anthologies including Open Field: 30 Contemporary Canadian Poets and Red Silk: An Anthology of South Asian Canadian Women Poets.
coyotes
Coyotes wake when we lie down upon the verge of sleep enclosed,
intent upon pursuits that take ...[read poem]
intent upon pursuits that take ...
eyes
My most honorable eyes, you are not in the best of shape.
I receive from you an image less than...[read poem]
I receive from you an image less than...
history
When we are old, our eyes will open wide and everything we knew
will exit through them, standin...[read poem]
will exit through them, standin...
body shop
Your body’s got the wrong features?
Oh, wainh, wainh!
Its finish isn’t s...[read poem]
Oh, wainh, wainh!
Its finish isn’t s...
herons step with care
Herons step with care
across the shore: they weave
into the sand their bare
calligraphy and leave.
across the shore: they weave
into the sand their bare
calligraphy and leave.
nonadaptation
I was not made to live anywhere except in Paradise.
Such, simply, was my genetic inadapta...[read poem]
Such, simply, was my genetic inadapta...
dead reckoning
Now that death has entered you, sooner than I think it will
arrive in me, I fear to look into y...[read poem]
arrive in me, I fear to look into y...
where is the soul to find
Where is the soul to find
its truest orient
if not within the mind
of cats, when they consent?
its truest orient
if not within the mind
of cats, when they consent?
birth
When tears come, they do not come as water in the eyes, they come
as children you have lost, be...[read poem]
as children you have lost, be...
the eyes of toads are great
The eyes of toads are great
wells of sadness: where
do they gaze but into fate
to see nothing there?
wells of sadness: where
do they gaze but into fate
to see nothing there?
child of europe
1
We, whose lungs fill with the sweetness of day,
Who in May admire trees flow...[read poem]
We, whose lungs fill with the sweetness of day,
Who in May admire trees flow...
sea
When I woke, it was not skin I felt upon my body. Night
had fallen over me, I wore the dark. No...[read poem]
had fallen over me, I wore the dark. No...
all
This is all that we will leave behind -- a line of words and at
the end a little silence, then ...[read poem]
the end a little silence, then ...
métis
Speak the great names: Fort Qu'Appelle,
St Isidore de Bellevue, Grand Coteau,
Batoche, For...[read poem]
St Isidore de Bellevue, Grand Coteau,
Batoche, For...
to mrs. professor in defense of my cat's honor and not only
My valiant helper, a small-sized tiger
Sleeps sweetly on my desk, by the computer,
Unaware...[read poem]
Sleeps sweetly on my desk, by the computer,
Unaware...
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