The Dream World Read online

  Thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts for financial assistance, to the City of St. John’s, and to the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council for its generosity throughout the duration of our stay in Newfoundland. Thanks to the Humanities Department at Memorial University, especially to Peter Trnka and Peter Harris, to the Banff Centre for the Arts, and to John Barton for the timely encouragement in his capacity as the former editor of Arc. To Steven Heighton, Suzanne Buffam, Michael Crummey, Mark Callanan, Sarah Wiseman, David Seymour, Alayna Munce, and Susan Ingersoll, who commented on earlier versions of the poems. To Ellen Seligman, Anita Chong, and Ruta Liormonas at McClelland & Stewart. To my family, and to Degan Davis in particular, who has shaped this book and its author on every level.

  I am extremely grateful to Molly Peacock for her astute edit, to Lynn Henry for her continued support, and to Don McKay and Anne Simpson for their feedback on the manuscript as a whole. Finally I would like to acknowledge Chris Hutchinson whose patience and insight were invaluable.

  Did I mention Chris Hutchinson? Thanks Chris.

  “Leaving for the Arctic, Listening to My Lover Sing the Blues” is for Degan. “Dog-Eared” is for Matt. “Childhood” is for Emily.

  This book is for my grandparents, Fred and Norma Martin.

  BOOKS BY ALISON PICK

  POETRY

  Question & Answer (2003)

  The Dream World (2008)

  FICTION

  The Sweet Edge (2005)

  COPYRIGHT © 2008 BY ALISON PICK

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, orotherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.

  LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

  Pick, Alison

  The dream world: poems / Alison Pick.

  eISBN: 978-1-55199-245-7

  I. Title.

  PS8581.I2563D74 2008 C811'.6 C2007-906591-0

  We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.

  McClelland & Stewart Ltd.

  75 Sherbourne Street

  Toronto, Ontario

  M5A 2P9

  www.mcclelland.com

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