• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Willawaw Journal

Online Poetry & Art

  • Home
  • Journal
    • Willawaw Journal Spring 2025 Issue 20
    • Willawaw Journal Fall 2024 Issue 19
    • Willawaw Journal – All Issues
  • Submissions
  • Pushcart
  • About
    • About the Journal
    • About the Editor
    • Behind-the-Scenes Creatives and Advisors
  • Contact

Bruce McRae

On The Brink

Back end of a town on the sea-brink,
sentinel mountains the rock-gods marshalling age-old cold,
time elapsing, slowly-quickly-slowly,
a nation entire on the cusp of a grey-green woods,
a people en toto settled amongst forest-flinch,
the roiling waters a border not for crossing,
whale-song exchanging currency
with outboard motors and curious tourists.
Where oceanic fogbanks contemplate dramatic entrances.
Where seals bark, the pack dogs of the main,
stray reports of cougar attacks and ursine visitations
sprinkling the news and odd conversation.
No talk though of ecstasy or infinites or absolutes,
of the supernatural transposed over human nature,
the Earth-ancient text to human illustration,
the un-animal become more and more unnatural,
nature de-clawed, de-sexed, de-scented,
fetid and mossy rainforests contrasting
with aluminum siding, aerials, discarded cans,
a planet trembling under the planking.

Bruce McRae, a Canadian musician currently residing on Salt Spring Island BC, is a multiple
Pushcart nominee with over 1,600 poems
published internationally in magazines such as
Poetry, Rattle and the
North American Review. His books are ‘The So-Called Sonnets’
(Silenced Press); ‘An Unbecoming Fit Of Frenzy’; (Cawing Crow Press);‘Like As If’ (Pski’s
Porch); ‘Hearsay’ (The Poet’s Haven).

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Related

Footer

Stay In Touch

Subscribe to our mailing list for news about special events and the launch of the latest issue of Willawaw Journal.
* indicates required
We respect your privacy and will never sell or rent your personal information to third parties.

Support

Please make a donation here to support the running of Willawaw Journal. Thank you!

Support Willawaw Journal

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Submit to Willawaw Journal

Submit through Duosuma

Click to submit through Duosuma (opens in a new window/tab)

Copyright © 2025 Willawaw Journal, LLC · WordPress · site design by Yeda, LLC