Over the past twenty years, The Walrus has been a steady bellwether of must-read writing. For our 20th anniversary, we’ve collected works that still surprise us, impress us, move us.

Here are some of the best poems that we’ve published.



Three Poems

BY MICHAEL FRASER
A series about the lives and experiences of African Canadians who joined the Union army in the American Civil War




Tractor

BY KAREN SOLIE
It silences the arguments of every living thing / and our minds in that time are not entirely elsewhere




Lord Mayor Magpie

BY ERIC ORMSBY
There he waltzes, / this debonair / line dancer in mid-air




The Peace Lily

BY KAYLA CZAGA
To say the peace lily died / would be an understatement.




Theses on the Hydrology of Sweet Tea

BY LUCAS CRAWFORD
I pray only to wordplay. Am I wrong to fetishize fluidity? Strength?




In Cloud Country

BY MICHAEL PRIOR
Within our borders, / your hair frays cirrus into sky, while that bride, / so serious in every photo, never had to be you.




Waves

BY RICHARD GREENE
Rebuilding is a matter of cinder / block and thickets of rebar rising up / the mountain’s steep face.




The Buried Hatchet

BY JASON GURIEL
poisons the soil / beside the river

Various Contributors