It was rainy season and everything
in the grove was electric green.
I was about to leave
you and I think it surprised us.
My heart’s gone out of it, I say
and what I mean is, 
we’ve finally had time to listen
to who we are. 

We did not argue––
the pair of us, stifled and blurred,
a half step behind one another. 
Flames eaten by rain.
And, after every charred ending,
the cicada’s roar
into splintered heat.

Source: Instructions for Travelling West (The Dial Press, 2024)

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Nicole Dalcourt is an award-winning Canadian poet and author of What Remains, her debut poetry collection. Dalcourt’s work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Writerly Magazine, Bangs, Sky Island Journal and Anti-Heroine Chic. She is a member of the League of Canadian Poets and the Ontario Poetry Society. When not writing, Nicole hosts and participates in open mics around the region. Her favorite colour is green.