Wolsak & Wynn, Toronto, 1989 ISBN 0-919897-10-X 82p. Buy The Word for Sand from Amazon.com

THE WORD FOR SAND

Winner of The Pat Lowther Award, 1989
Winner of The Governor-General's Award for Poetry, 1989

"Coming into a book of Heather Spears' poems is to take your life in your hands." Margaret Dyment

"a richly textured collection of poems that deal with the disquieting strangeness of the known and the frightening familiarity of the unknown." Arc

"Superb imagery. Superb economy of words and tone." Canadian Book Review Annual

"structured with the intricacy of clockwork (these poems) work on our imagination, our feelings and our intellect." Event

To my Arabic Book

Dear stupid Teach-Yourself-Arabic book,
I have completed Lesson Five
and you have yet to tell me
the word for arm, or leg, or salt,
but I can write perfectly
The delegates are at the Ministry.
I can even write
The busy, diligent, famous, honest, clean, clever, important
thin, fat, lazy
delegates are at the Ministry
and I know the gender agreements and all the duals and plurals
and the words for war zone, and council, and factory, and government
but not the word for sand, and wind, and star.

POETRY , SCIENCE FICTION, BOOKS OF DRAWINGS,

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