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Bradley McIlwain

Bradley McIlwain lives in Ontario, Canada where he is inspired by songs in nature, and examining our relationships within it. His poems have appeared in the New Verse News, The Open Mouse, Platform Magazine (Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia) and in anthologies such as Something’s Brewing, Kind of a Hurricane Press (2014), The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly Vol. 2 (2013) and in Love Notes: A Collection of Romantic Poetry from Vagabondage Press (2012).

Bradley graduated from the University of Toronto's iSchool, where he received his M.I. in Library and Information Science. His new book of poems, Elementals (IOWI, 2015) is  available on
Amazon and Indigo.

 

 

 

Note: Every Origami micro-chapbook may be downloaded & printed from the website.


Bradley's microchaps & selected poems are available below.  You may also listen to his reading of his poem, Three Mile Lake, while reading the text.

Origami Microchap

Selected Poem(s)

 
Stanzas to Medusa    

Click title to download microchap 

Bradley McIlwain CVR Stanzas to Medusa 2021

Cover art: Medusa by Theresa Donnelly

 

         I

Tarot at my table

Queen of swords

Cuts my intuition

And clarity —

Medusa springs

From tea leaves:

Leftover chai

In harvest light

Reflecting what

I’ve withheld

What I’ve held

Too close upon waking

Dreams

That became bridled in

Shadow

 

 

               II

In this small apartment

Green granite counters

The envy of mornings

Shimmering and cold.

I ask myself:

Who sourced the stone

Cut the form

That catches the wandering eye?

 

             III

You can’t draw blood from a stone

But stone has been cut with blood

Bright green

In the sheen of Perseus Aegis shield

Poised like a paparazzi’s camera flash

Capturing scars

You prayed no one else would see —

Not even him.

You sought the antidote

To the snakes in your head

Searching for Pandora’s lost hope

Until the cold, final tableaux:

Your heart as heavy as stone.

             IV

Lured to death or bliss

Poseidon’s sacred kiss

Swims over serpent lips

Of Medusa’s succulent

Smile —

Poetry in moonlight

Chasing an ouroborus

tail.

 

 

        V

Earth under my boots

Sacred space becoming

Ritual

Transforming soul —

In darkness

Mars sharpens the stars of war.

I follow.

 

 

             VI

A cry pierces the night.

Medusa slithers silently

In moonlight temples

Searching for her other self —

Who will free her

From her guilt weighted stone?

 

Bradley McIlwain © 2021

Hierophant    
Click title to download microchap 

 Bradley McIlwain CVR Hierophant 2020 JUN

Cover collage by JanK

A Hierophant is an interpreter of

sacred mysteries & arcane principles.

I

Lone lamppost
on a gravel road
illuminates the unknown

Through piercing shadows
the willow looms
in the mist, opening secret rooms

 

II

Crows
caw at crossroads to the West;
breath at the nape of my neck

Overland, in the trees
footsteps appear,
and disappear in the breeze

 

III

Horned God
of the wood resides
with moonlight and a cup of wine;

in dew
all secrets are yielded in yew

IV

Water whispers
inside an old barn well;


three wishes
tossed in a stream ...


three pennies
the price of a dream

 

V

Said a fortuneteller
one eve:

may three of cups
mend your heart

and ace of wands
make your life an art

VI

Sage and thyme
cleanse the hours
and a pinch of salt

to call the corners
when spirits are called to order

Bradley McIlwain © 2020

Holding On

   
Click title to download microchap 
 
Cover:
Moonlight Contemplation
by Lauri Burke

 

Holding On

Martha

you are light years from here
but so close like a falling star

did I wish on you? I needed a
friend.

Some days I feel so far
sinking into the space

of what’s incomplete —
Dreams flicker in faded

foxfires of what could be.
Your silence more powerful

than words. There is a ghost
now where a soul should be.

Your poems shine moonlight
on my skin

when I am lost, holding on
to your smile
-
 
Winter Walks

your palm in mine
keeping us warm
on snowy evenings
dreaming beneath
the soft glow
of a silk moon
— and tonight
how the stars
move in your eyes
fills my heart with light
 
Bradley  McIlwain © 2016

 

Day and Night


I

morning —
the town creaks
beneath


my soles
squeaking
in the fog

of a half remembered dream

 

II

in the field
a catcher’s mitt
sits


forgotten
by dugouts
and daffodils


waiting
for a father
and son


III

the sun blushes
toward the West

her greatest treasure
ripening

crisp leaves
on her fiery
tongue 

Philosophers Walk

   

Click title to download microchap

Cover: Digital Art by Susan Lucas
http://susanlucasart.com/
Bradley McIlwain reads
Three Mile Lake

Three Mile Lake

There are whispers in the
cedar —

out here, cold cuts breath
like bone

Birds crack twilight
effortless as manna

In the morning I will
break camp with fog —

wander listless valleys
lucid as a salmon in rain
·
Bradley  McIlwain © 2014

 

Philosophers Walk

Robin
shakes
a song

from
her red
throat —

a half
moon
casts

a cold
light.
In the

valley
I drift
into

still life
A mural
of

endless
echoes

Bradley  McIlwain © 2014