James Thurgood was born in Nova Scotia, grew up in Windsor, Ontario, and now lives in Calgary, Alberta. He has been a labourer, musician, and teacher - not necessarily in that order. His poems have appeared in various journals, anthologies, and in a collection (Icemen/Stoneghosts, Penumbra Press). He is also the author of His Own Misfortune, a work-in-progress. (thurgoodwordsalad.blogspot.com/).

James Thurgood

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soldiers at Tiananmen Square

a generation from those
who slaughtered students –
young, scrubbed clean as the pavestone
on which they parade,
 rake-thin as if no rations could fill
those hulking old-style coats
– hard to imagine these stern boys
pulling the triggers,
more like those who wept
when bark-eating mothers of Changchun
laid babies dead at their feet –
the ones replaced by men who wouldn't weep
who would no doubt fire