Small Lake with Pine Trees

Cornelia Hornosty (nee DeYoung) has a BA in French Literature from Oberlin College, Ohio, with studies in Grenoble, France, and an MA in French Literature from McMaster University. She lived in Ontario for 28 years and has been living in Victoria, BC, for the past eight years. She has published poems and fiction in a number of Canadian literary magazines, including Canadian Literature, Canadian Forum, Queen’s Quarterly, Malahat Review, New Quarterly, Grain, Pottersfield Portfolio, and Dalhousie Review. Three previous collections were published by Borealis Press in Ottawa: Voice with Flowers (1991), Under the Beaks of Millions (1993), and The Inner Romaine of Our Lives (2000).

Birds take chances, move freely,
wear a hopeful countenance,
are busy with life, are in life, with no watches
to check the time,
no guilt over undone chores
or stolen love.

from "Birds Lighting on Blooms, Taking Chances" by Cornelia Hornosty