A Guide for New Writers
Erasure poem for Geist Magazine, unpublished, 2011
From the excerpt Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie
-PASS AWAY
-VISIT the dark and the strange
-VIEW horror, soon friendly and communicative
-POINT to every object, attract their attention
-ASK a thousand questions
-USE the material, and if so inclined, exchange it for commodities
-MAP the infinite light in a moment
-RECOGNIZE and follow the course to your own lake.
-BEG hard for the coveted treasure
-it will give more by-and-by
-GRATIFY its wishes
-DAILY CONSULT in reference to the names and situations in the neighbourhood
-POSSESS a curious sword
-GIVE to a strange gift
-ACCOUNT of its curiosity
-REFER to warlike propensities
-CARVE images of gods
-CONCEIVE by the most distorted imagination
-REPRESENT in a sitting attitude, the eagle’s claws
-FACE a strange compound of beasts and birds
-PART with feathers
-LOWER long weapon
-JOIN high friends found lying upon the bookshelf
-COMMUNICATE the important discovery
-BELONG to a very fierce people who live over the Great Salt Lake
-not Christians
-PRAY own hands
-PASS the sword
-PERCEIVE circumstance as a great value
-CONTINUE to visit the house
-LOOK at god until vexed and annoyed by light
-MANIFEST the sight of the eagle
-REFUSE to gratify curiosity, by producing again.