Late, Again by Susan Alexander

Susan Alexander has made the 2018CBC Poetry Prize longlist for Late, Again.

• 30writers make longlist for the 2018CBC Poetry Prize

About Susan

Susan Alexander is the author of The Dance Floor Tilts. Most recently, a poem from her book was selected by Poetry in Transit for display on Vancouver busses in 2018/19. Susan's poems have received prizes and appeared in several Canadian literary magazines.

Entry in five-ish words

Loose, humorous, energetic, sideways, intimate.

The poem's source of inspiration

"The poem started as a light meditation about struggles with punctuality. Then came a shift and I ended up writing about a strangely related struggle feelings of guilt surrounding my mother's death."

First lines

I don't see it numbered among the seven deadlies. My mother named me late bloomer, which means I've been slow to my own arrival.
I spend every day playing tag with myself.

Being late is rarely personal. I'm a startled flock of birds, a black cloud turning.
Time itself is at fault. It stretches out in all directions, loops into yesterday and vaults into tomorrow. Then it's gone like an empty roll of toilet paper.

About the 2018CBCPoetry Prize

The winner of the 2018CBCPoetry Prizewill receive$6,000 from theCanada Council for the Arts, will have their work published onCBC Booksandwill have the opportunity to attend a writing residency atthe Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from theCanada Council for the Artsand have their work published onCBC Books.