.lise.

.vancouver. 2009.

lise's quick visit to van consisted of a margaret atwood reading, some dina el-kassaby readings, playing catch up, drinking tea, eating cereal and avocados, a few hours of sleep, rising with dawn, a tour in the life of a ubc arts student, and a chance to say farewell to speedy edward el-kassaby in his last moments of life..

.lise's favorite.
You fit into me
like a hook into an eye
A fish hook
An open eye

.my favorite.
It was taken some time ago
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;

then, as you scan
it, you can see something in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.

In the background there is a lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.

(The photograph was taken
the day after I drowned.

I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface.

It is difficult to say where
precisely, or to say
how large or how small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion.

but if you look long enough
eventually
you will see me.)