The Terrible Lottery

What is invisible is unreal, like love, / hunger, rage.

Roxanna Bennett.

I love unusual things & stay in
love with strangeness, have not outgrown
my deficits. Full of holes rain pours into,
I remain. Older, indecisive, unsound.
I am portal, I am process: energy
shining out that no one loves. My pain,
you see, sightistly, is not visible.
What is invisible is unreal, like love,
hunger, rage. I’ve played the terrible lottery
we all play, the odds increase as we age.
You might say it’s natural to disintegrate.
Each day is hot or cold, clear or cloudy,
blue-skied above. Everything is green, or
not, furred or feathered. Done in by weather.

Roxanna Bennett
Roxanna Bennett's second book, Unmeaningable, received the Raymond Souster Award and was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry.

This Year, The Walrus Turns 20

For two decades, Canadians have relied on our thought-provoking journalism to make sense of our world.
As we look at Who We Are Now in 2023, help us power the next 20 years of inspiring conversations and fact-checked journalism. Donate to The Walrus today.
Picture of Jenn
With thanks
Jennifer Hollet
Executive Director