for Frank Ledwell

Frank Ledwell (1930–2010) was a writer and poet who mentored thousands of Prince Edward Islanders—including me—in his role as English and Creative Writing professor at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Wrecked boats, messages in bottles, lifebuoys, jetsam, fishermen lost at sea.
—Joanne Harris, Coastliners

You would like that I’d remembered
flatter than piss on a plate
to describe the Bay at sunset
when the wind drops
and, becalmed
you take up your deck chair
pour two fingers of The Captain
sneak another smoke
and watch the sun
slip day’s net

As violet night comes down
you bide your time
waiting to hoist your sail
for that last short leg to home

—Laurie Brinklow. My Island’s the house I sleep in at night, Island Studies Press, 2021.

Deirdre Kessler selects a poem a month by an Island poet for The Buzz.