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    • Boomerang >
      • The Art >
        • Alisha Ansems "Tangled Memories"
        • Lindsay Athoe "Study I" and "Study II"
        • Melissa Bareham "Suspension"
        • Ronnie Clarke "It Is Hard to Say"
        • Nick Cote "City Parks"
        • Liam Creed "Untitled"
        • Gwen Hovey "Jelly"
        • Marissa Martin "Childhood Wonder"
        • Alexa McKinnon "The Feminine Uncanny"
        • Amy Ngo "Untitled"
        • Jill Smith "Shelf Self String Thing" and "things a, b and c"
        • Rebecca Sun "Untitled 1" and "Untitled 2"
        • Gabriele Tyson (Andrew Fraser) "Strong Strides"
        • Val Vallejo "Digital Scaring"
        • Kewen Yan "Time Traveller"
      • The Art/The Poems >
        • Marissa Martin/Mary McDonald
        • Amy Ngo/Jill O'Craven
        • Rebecca Sun/Mary McDonald
        • Gabriele Tyson (Andrew Fraser)/Hashini Puwakgolle Mudiyanselage
        • Val Vallejo/Elizabeth Sak
        • Kewen Yan/Megan Gerret
      • The Poems >
        • Megan Gerrett "Traveller"
        • Mary McDonald "Beyond"
        • Mary McDonald "Blink Back"
        • Hashini Puwakgolle Mudiyanselage "Silent Battles"
        • Jill O'Craven "She is an Ocean"
        • Elizabeth Sak "Stalemate"
    • Issue 1
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 3 >
      • Judges: Issue 3
      • Contributors: Issue 3
    • Issue 4 >
      • Judges: Issue 4
      • Contributors: Issue 4
      • Poetry: Krista Bell
      • Poetry: Josh Garrett
      • Poetry: Erica McKeen
      • Poetry: Katharine O'Reilly
      • Poetry: Victoria Wiebe
      • Poetry: Eric Zadrozny
      • Creative Nonfiction: Ryan Bates
      • Creative Nonfiction: Devin Golets
      • Creative Nonfiction: Jonas Trottier
      • Experimental Writing, Film Sound: Rachel Ganzewinkel
      • Creative Nonfiction: Victoria Wiebe
      • Fiction: Raquel Farrington
      • Fiction: Yulia Lobacheva
      • Fiction: Alexander Martin
      • Fiction: Tiffany Shepherd
      • Fiction: Jonas Trottier
      • On the Night Before Your Father's Funeral, By Katharine O'Reilly
      • Market Blooms By Robyn Obermeyer
      • All That Glitters By Julia Cutt
      • Mosaic By Evan Pebesma
      • love song 2 By Joy Zhiqian Xian
      • Student Writer in Residence: Steve Slowka
    • Issue 5 >
      • Judges: Issue 5
      • Contributors: Issue 5
      • Poetry: Rayna Abernethy
      • Poetry: Chelsea Brimstin
      • Poetry: Natalie Franke
      • Poetry: Kevin Heslop
      • Poetry: Katarina Huellemann
      • Poetry: Cara Leung
      • Poetry: Tamara Spencer
      • Poetry: Travis Welowsky
      • Poetry: Victoria Wiebe
      • Creative Nonfiction: Lyndsay Fearnall
      • Creative Nonfiction: Gary Jackson
      • Fiction: Patricia Arhinson
      • Fiction: Lyndsay Fearnall
      • Fiction: Levi Hord
      • Fiction: Richard Joseph
      • Fiction: Erica McKeen
      • Experimental Writing: Laura McKinstry
      • Experimental Writing: Brittany Renaud
      • Short Film: Ethan Radomski
      • ALFRED R. POYNT AWARD IN POETRY >
        • Poynt Award: Emma Croll-Baehre
        • Poynt Award: Robyn Obermeyer
        • Poynt Award: David Witmer
    • Issue 6 >
      • Judges: Issue 6
      • Contributors: Issue 6
      • Ficton: Sam Boer
      • Ficton: Sydney Brooman
      • Ficton: Erica McKeen
      • Ficton: Esther Van Galen
      • Creative Nonficton: Erica McKeen
      • Creative Nonficton: Brittany Tilstra
      • Creative Nonficton: Nathan Wright-Edwards
      • Poetry: Miriam Ahmed-Gawel
      • Poetry: Chelsea Brimstin
      • Poetry: Rachael Hofford
      • Poetry: Elana Katz
      • Poetry: Erica McKeen
      • Poetry: R. A. Robinson
      • Poetry: Elizabeth Sak
      • Experimental Writing: Sydney Brooman
      • Experimental Writing: Erica McKeen
      • Experimental Writing: Brittany Renaud
      • Experimental Writing: Brittany Renaud
      • Short Film: Dejvi Dashi
      • Short Film: Matthew Carr
    • Issue 7 >
      • Contributors: Issue 7
      • Judges: Issue 7
      • Poetry: Michelle Baleka
      • Poetry: Jenny Berkel
      • Poetry: Kevin Heslop
      • Poetry: Katarina Huellemann
      • Poetry: Nathan Little
      • Poetry: Erica McKeen
      • Poetry: Kaela Morin
      • Poetry: Elizabeth Sak
      • Poetry: Kate Zahnow
      • Experimental Writing and Film: Erica McKeen
      • Experimental Writing and Film: Shauna Ruby Valchuk
      • Fiction: James Gagnon
      • Fiction: Megan Levine
      • Fiction: Erica McKeen
      • Fiction: Cassia Pelton
      • Fiction: Julia Rooth
      • Creative NonFiction: Noa Rapaport
      • Screenplays: Sydney Brooman
      • Screenplays: Nathan Wright-Edwards
    • Issue 8 >
      • Judges: Issue 8
      • Contributors: Issue 8
      • Poetry 8: Danielle Bryl-Dam
      • Poetry 8: Leah Kuiack
      • Poetry 8: Jameson Lawson
      • Poetry 8: Maxwell Lucas
      • Poetry 8: Kaela Morin
      • Poetry 8: Joanna Shepherd
      • Fiction 8: Mason Frankel
      • Fiction 8: Rylee Loucks
      • Fiction 8: Celia Kate Shapcott
      • Fiction 8: Amy Wang
      • Fiction 8: Blake Zigrossi
      • Screenplays 8: Naomi Barghel
      • Screenplays 8: Amanda Inglese
      • Screenplays 8: Jeff Simpson
      • Creative Nonfiction 8: Tiffany Austin
      • Creative Nonfiction 8: Jenny Berkel
      • Creative Nonfiction 8: Carolina Jung
      • Creative Nonfiction 8: Leah Kuiack
      • Creative Nonfiction 8: Li-elle Rapaport
      • Creative Nonfiction 8: Amy Wang
      • Experimental 8: Lauren Lee
      • Experimental 8: Kirah Ougniwi
      • Experimental 8: Carlie Thompson-Bockus
      • Plays 8: Camille Inston
    • Issue 9 >
      • Contributors: Issue 9
      • Fiction 9: Chris Chang
      • Fiction 9: Tegan Wilder
      • Fiction 9: Hyacinth Zia
      • Creastive Nonfiction 9: Aidan Gugula
      • Poetry 9: Rachel Fawcett
      • Poetry 9: Matthew Simic
      • Experimental Writing 9: Shauna Ruby Valchuk
      • Screenplays 9: Naomi Barghiel
      • Screenplays 9: Alicia Johnson
      • Screenplays 9: Keaton Olsen
      • Screenplays 9: Rachel Yan
    • Issue 10 >
      • Contributors: Issue 10
      • Experimental Writing 10: Akshi Chadha
      • Experimental Writing 10: Adelphi Eden
      • Experimental Writing 10: Nicole Feutl
      • Experimental Writing 10: Isabella Kennedy
      • Experimental Writing 10: Christopher Paul
      • Poetry 10: Meaghan Furlano
      • Poetry 10: Li-elle Rapaport
      • Fiction 10: Meaghan Furlano
      • Fiction 10: Carly Pews
      • Creative Noniction 10: Nicole Feutl
      • Creative Noniction 10: Courtney WZ
      • Screenplay 10: Margaret Huntley
  • Issue 11.1
    • Contributors: Issue 11.1
    • Fiction 11.1: Tega Aror
    • Fiction 11.1: Chloe Bachert
    • Fiction 11.1: Kelly Ge
    • Fiction 11.1: Asia Porcu
    • Fiction 11.1: Taryn Rollins
    • Fiction 11.1: Pauline Shen
    • Poetry 11.1: Jennifer Adamou
    • Poetry 11.1: Katherine Barbour
    • Poetry 11.1: Akshi Chadha
    • Poetry 11.1: Emma Graham
    • Poetry 11.1: Li-elle Rapaport
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  • Writing Studies

"Blink Back" By Mary McDonald

After "Untitled" by Rebecca Sun
There are layers here, like an onion’s
skins of meaning.
If I cut through these layers, will I cry?
Is it my dreamscape or yours that you are showing so blazenly, brazenly here?
But hidden of course, curtained by the layers of meaning we could make, but don’t in our lives if it takes more than 140 characters, or a blink, or 100 seconds to process, dive in, think through, Like.
I can keep busy if I want not to see into my own onion skin, make no cuts.
Meaning.
Will I cry if I cut through yours?
Will you?
 
 
It looks like the classic ancient Japanese painting of the waves in the middle,
and here, fingers pointing --
isn’t that rude?
and stalactites curving underneath, along the cave roof
drips and mountains and flowing and
those koi
that pushed up, onto the surface of the pond when I stepped onto the bridge that morning,
those fat, gold koi that jostled and thrashed on top of each other,
in anticipation of the food
I did not drop
 
 
and fire and moon and leaves I see now too, along the left.
And those other koi, that morning I began to see the choices I …
Do I stitch together my meanings or make cuts into/through?
Which would be more constructive? Instructive? (Efficient?)
I’ll lie along this curved sand floor
reminded of the rounded rocks in Georgian Bay
when I tried, I wanted…
See. These are my layered skins.
I am drawn to these lines and images.
I am drawn into these lines and images.
I am drawn on these lines and
 
 
This is how
the raw onion skin splits
stings
eyes blink
koi and moon and fire and net
falling away
into the cavern below
inner lining, layers
stalactites curving
mountains, and waterfall
waves, and
Mary McDonald is a writer who has settled in the London community, after living in West Africa, Indonesia, and Toronto. Mary is a graduate student of the Master’s of Educational Technology program of UBC. She has been previously published in The New Quarterly and her play, “13 inches of closet space” will be given a public reading in April.

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