Ah, winter. The wound that coaxes the thinnest blood. You may be content with shaking your woolen mittens over your ash-fired woodstove in a futile attempt at drying. Nobody would knock you for languishing away the winter on a sofa with nothing but a Bay blanket and a snifter of warm brandy. It is tempting to cut ties with everyone and declare yourself “unavailable” whilst you spend the final third of the year summoning the demons necessary to traverse Henry Miller’s Rosy Crucifixion.

If you find yourself in want of light – the kind of light with no heat or residue – you begin to wander. You enter with Mary Oliver and exit with Dylan Thomas. You pop by Ameliasburg and wish Mr Purdy a good day. You stare at the cover of a Jan Zwicky volume and wonder out loud how she figured it out. You take a single orange leaf – one of the few that remain – and press it into The Four Quartets, so when you revisit them next year, the tumble of leaf crumbs produces a sensation of delight and relief: You have survived.

Getting down to cases. If you require a reminder of the shortness of our time here, please visit our newly-minted reading series on Saturday October 27, 2012 (that’s this Saturday) at Cafe Tiramisu, 10750 – 124 street, Edmonton. 3:00pm – 5:00pm. Featured readers are Christine Stewart and Colin Matty. Here is the event page for future reference.