Is Occurring
feet touching ground is occurring everywhere I walk
I kill something is occurring surrendering to melancholy
comes easily if not careful is occurring notwithstanding brutality
harmony is occurring formula to keep from
dying is occurring testing positive is occurring
lack of answers is occurring lack of questions is occurring complacency is occurring
coffee is occurring catastrophe is occurring
labour is occurring picking sour sweet red raspberries is occurring
pigeon is occurring crow is occurring goal or distance is occurring
goose is occurring checking the bottom of shoe is occurring
rosebud is occurring woman is occurring
one in six women is raped is tortured is occurring
knowing little and crying a lot is occurring crying a lot is occurring
water is occurring made with oil is occurring oil is killing us is occurring
manatee deaths up twenty percent is occurring
desecration is occurring desecration is recurring
spike in cases is occurring
promise is occurring deployment is occurring PTSD is occurring
eviction is occurring sleeping outside is occurring
going to work is occurring out of work is occurring is occurring is occurring
blur is occurring dropping to one knee is occurring
futurelessness is occurring the arctic is feverish is occurring
very hot wild fire between Hope and Merrit is occurring
hydrophobic crust on the soil increasing flood risk is occurring
helicopter is occurring gull is occurring
live Reggae music is occurring old song is occurring identification is occurring
a maple leaf born and falling from the maple tree is occurring
using and reusing needles on the street is occurring
eyes filled with the dead is occurring
old nose of dog is occurring the lawn is occurring a group photo is occurring
naming the baby is occurring summer without superheroes is occurring
illegal wildlife trade is occurring
toxic PFAS chemical use is occurring
commercial fishing is occurring eagle is occurring
what type of beetle is that occurring lagging behind is occurring
scrambling to catch up is occurring
urban sprawl is occurring the ferruginous pygmy owl’s loss of habit is occurring
building a wall is occurring liquor store is occurring
roadkill rates have gone down is occurring
a fly is occurring ice cream truck is occurring
sun is occurring sky is occurring
syntax is occurring this is occurring
Author’s Bio
Jami Macarty gratefully recognizes Native Nations of the West—especially the Coast Salish and O’odham—as the traditional and rightful owners of lands where she has the great privilege to live and work—as a teacher at Simon Fraser University and as a writer of essays, reviews, and poetry. She is the author of The Minuses (Center for Literary Publishing, 2020), winner of the 2020 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award – Poetry Arizona, and three chapbooks, including Mind of Spring (Vallum Chapbook Series, 2017), winner of the 2017 Vallum Chapbook Award. Her writing has been honoured by financial support from Arizona Commission on the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council, and by editors at literary magazines such as The Capilano Review, Interim, Tinfish, and Volt, where her work is forthcoming.
