Revised Edition: LukivPress (Victoria, BC), 2022. Previously published as Life on Mars (Seeker Magazine [Vancouver, BC], 2005). An excerpt Corvus Corax-The Raven Siberian storm front-prophet, MacBeth-black cloud, And Poe's ache- This trickster, This ravenous clawer ofFruits and seedsAnd rotting flesh, This coniferous roamerAnd desert nomad, Croaks like a mournful hagOr mimics that diminutiveBrainless crow. Inuit carversImmortalize this prankster-Thief haunting ice fishermen, This vaudeville clown who dumpsSnow on Yellowknife-victimsBeneath steep metal roofs. In the torrent valley of Cherith, You fed ElijahBetween ravines and crags, Your thunderbolt blacknessFilled aerial somersaultsAnd upside-down fly-bysIn courtshipOr mere play. You taunt wolves-Peck their hairy tails-But feast on their feastBetween tricks thatThe Haida often recall. You croak of the glee, the surprise, The excitement and anger andTenderness in the bloodOf every man, Of every Noah sending forthA query-"Is all wellOn dry ground?" You are the shaggy-throatedRoamer, the blue jay-cousin, And cleverest passerine.When you mate, it is for life, And there is no child abuseIn your beak or claw. You are the clown of the forest, The king of the pun. The author Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada's Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA's Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England's D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer's Digest University (novel writing program).
