Poet of the Month (March): Matt Rader
The Lonely Crowd will feature new work by a different poet each month throughout 2025. For March, we are delighted to publish two new works by Matt Rader. The first of these, ‘Sighişoara’, is published today with the second, ‘Public Radio’, to follow on Sunday.
for Rafa
In the wood-pasture above
the family home
the oaks have seen everything
hornbeam, wild pear, beech, Marcella
gathering thyme
like a clock
the first stones of the citadel
rainstorms, roadwork
Saxon camps
the off-white picked-clean vertebrae
of lost dogs
blackthorn, crab apple, plum
In The Book of Rafa
a child goes among the oakwood
in the company of white chickens and woodpeckers
The jewelled carapaces of beetles
are his money
his wealth
and every acorn a promise
of shelter sheltered
in time
Matt Rader is the author of six collections of poems, most recently, Fine (Nightwood Editions 2024), as well as a collection of stories and a book of experimental nonfiction. His work has appeared in publications across North America, Australia, and Europe. He teaches Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.