Another publication for the MA in Creative Writing , this time from Bridget Sprouls who was on the inaugural MA course in 2013/14.  The Remaining Years, Bridget’s first collection of poetry (though she has published two children’s books and is working on another) comes from American-based indie publisher, Kelsay Press. – https://kelsaybooks.com/

Bridget was born in New Jersey and educated at McGill University, Le Conservatoire de Musique de Québec, as well as UCC. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Belleville Park Pages, Field, Map Literary, Steps Magazine, The Stinging Fly, and elsewhere. A recipient of Eyewear Publishing’s Fortnight Prize, she currently divides her time between Cape Breton and New Zealand.

The following poem of Bridget’s appeared in The New Yorker in 2016.

SCOUT

His sentences all ended with the word Austin,
a place I’d never seen,
so I packed a duffelbag,
overwatered the garden, and set out on foot,
the way many of the greats in my family had done,
among other rascally things.

The flutter of engines enchanted me.

Most awkward moment:
Out of cash,
bartering my eyelashes.

Thank you, bad-shot farmers, for all the pecans.
Thank you, hounds, for losing interest.

Some nights I would wake to a sweet melody grinding
like an ice-cream summons and stumble,

half-awake, trying to answer the phone in a forest.

So what if I drooled into rock receivers?
Someone needed to arrive first
and put an ear to the ground.

Someone needed to find a loft with flexible floors.

Who better to memorize the acoustics of local venues,
know which houses were haunted,
which gutters led somewhere?

I tumbled after the weeds,
eager to turn on the A.C.

and give the first tour.