A MAN WHO WON'T OWN A CELLPHONE

 I prefer
 my reflection
 in a mirror
 or a puddle
 when I can't see it.
 My mind
 knowing
 it is there,
 my eyes
 turned away,
 because then
 I don't care
 how I may
 appear.

CONFESSION OF A CLOCK PUNCHER


They always
wanted me
to write about
the places
I have worked...
really the reason
I choose not to
is simple:
they are places
where I've been
rigorously taught
about Stupidity.

HOW PEOPLE MOVE IN CROWDS
            ( re Truro, N.S., farmers' market)                                                                                                                   
     
At the table 
I must pay for                                                                                just to sell a book or two                                                                      I see people
moving among
their species,
moving in                                                                                what to many
may be a crowd,
using words like
"Excuse me",
"Sorry",
"Pardon me",
"Can I help you?",
 so I believe
my eyes first
before my ears,
and no one
can question them,
on how people
move in crowds,
when their happiness
is brought about
by trying,
really trying
to buy local.

Chad Norman from Nova Scotia in 1992 won the Gwendolyn MacEwen Memorial Award For Poetry. His new book, A Life Between The Brackets, is out Spring 2026 with Shadow Script Publications (Ireland). His poem, The Shoulds, in the Lunar Vagabond Collection, went to the moon Feb. 26, 2025.