Three Poems for Bissett

I submitted the following three poems for a tribute anthology celebrating the life and poetry of bill bissett, a legendary Canadian “poetry trickster” (Anne Waldman’s words). The first and third poems are not previously published. The second poem, “belt it bliss,” first appeared in radiant danse uv being (Roberts Creek, British Columbia: Nightwood Editions, 2006, edited by Jeff Pew and Stephen Roxborough, page 139, where the second line was accidentally omitted; the book is also available from Amazon). I share the pages of this anthology with Margaret Atwood, George Bowering, Di Brandt, Brian Brett, Leonard Cohen, Lorna Crozier, jwcurry, Paul Dutton, Penn Kemp, Patrick Lane, d.a.levy, Wendy Morton, Susan Musgrave, bpNichol, P. K. Page, Hilary Peach, and sheri-d wilson, among other stellar Canadian poets. Originally written in May of 2004, and performed at the book launch on 18 May 2006 at the Ironworks in Vancouver, British Columbia, which also featured a reading by bill bissett himself amid an energetic show of his artwork.

• the bill for poetry

• belt it bliss

• son et lumière