Category Archives: All posts
nyc subway myth is REAL
did you know that alligators live in the nyc subway system?
joyce hackett knew and so did amy vaillancourt.
vaillancourt made her way to new york.
she bought a ticket into the subway.
she began the waiting game.
for what?
new shoes? new pet?
few are ever sure of the intentions of amy until they have already become fruitful realizations.
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Tagged alligator, amy vaillancourt, guardian, joyce hackett, Listpoem, NYC, olympus 35 mm, subway
dusty bluff
rattle snake alley
lined with thistles
exposed dirt
where feet had tread
fences cling
to the edge of cliffs
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, black and white 35mm, British Colombia, Listpoem, nyx, peachland, rattle snake alley
a hot summer day
hints of summer’s shadow
soon the leaves will fall
then the snow will follow
in gusts of swirling silence
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, black and white 35mm, holga camera, Listpoem, mtl, nyx, pool on the mountain, sunday afternoon
coney
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, black and white 35mm, British Colombia, Listpoem, nyx, ponderosa pine cones
island
“hey do you girls want a paper bag for that beer?”
“um no, not really.”
he hands us a small sized bag from within his bag, identical to the one covering his tall boy of cours light.
“uh thank you,” i respond, covering up the same labeled can in my hand.
“you know that it is a 25 dollar ticket if you get stopped by the police with open beer?”
“wow that is like a deal where we come from.” jessica and i look at each other and nod in agreement.
we all sit on our benches and take a few sips looking out over the water. taking in its horizon.
“you know if you want to find an interesting time you could go down to the public court house. there is always a lot of action there. you don’t even need the ticket.”
“oh ya. i guess that is an idea,” i reply, looking over my shoulder at the tattooed russian hoodlums playing hand ball in cages, glistening with sweat. we sat there and finished our beers as night fell around us. i was quite happy where i was, this place was nutty enough for me.
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, august, beach, black and white 35mm, boardwalk, carnival, coney island, corn dogs, holga camera, Jessica Fahey, Listpoem, NYC, nyx
hidden treasures
uncle denis is a celebrity in a certain part of the world. his eccentric lifestyle and dangerous sense of thrills have earned him many an article in the local news. but there are many other stories ones that no one hears, ones that warm your heart.
this pool in his backyard is hidden, lying dormant like a childhood dream. the water so thick with tadpoles and frogs that it hums and croaks with life. a creation inspired by both the savage and myth.
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, backyard frog pool, Denis Ryan, holga camera, nyx
who?
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged amy vaillancourt, bear creek, British Colombia, holga camera, janet-photo, Listpoem
loaf more
local elementary students showcase their first pieces of stencil art in the derelict forest behind their school. the message is clear.
when i found these piles of abandoned junk tagged up with these motivational words i was so impressed that i was tempted to make a counter comment just to egg them on but i only got this far;
‘it may or may not happen’
‘do more or less sometimes’
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged amy vaillancourt, British Colombia, junk car, Listpoem, nyx, stencil art
recolter
arrival of the salted summer month
in this sweet summer
in this wind and wake
on this beaming bow
on this life to take
in the last warm month
you salt excess fish
you’re brown and restless
keen to any wish
it’s the sought out height
oh the hearts thunder
you capture your light
for winter’s plunder
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, harvest, Listpoem, recolt, the gatineau river
can do
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure, Montreal
Tagged amy vaillancourt, holga camera, Listpoem, montreal, nyx, street art
the water’s edge
beauty’s reflection in the glass of water
the magic that creates fairytales
the paired loons laugh, giggle
at our absurd paddle boat antics
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged black and white 35mm, cool lake, double exposure, holga camera, irons michigan, lily pads, Listpoem, nyx
Duo tang
Upon a pivot they turn
Pursuing separate arcs
Definite, but together.
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure, Nyx and Wren
Tagged amy vaillancourt, manistee, michigan, swings
out in the middle of nowhere
somewhere in mid-northern michigan while taking a supposed short cut we came across this lovely setting. it could be described as a road side mud clearing dotted with army trucks and about as many half bred buffalo/cattle (also known as either beefalo or cattalo) . i have only my little shreds of evidence and some theories as to what kind operation or militia might be gathering here. though admitably it did have a sort of futuristic apocalypse feel to it that i kind of liked, but also found disturbing. i would warn you to steer clear of it, but in reality i have no idea where it was or how to get back there.
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, army trucks, beefalo, holga camera, irons michigan, Listpoem, nyx
light action
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged amy vaillancourt, filament light bulbs, light bulb store, Listpoem, nyx, toronto
Vagabond
in the midst of a journey it is easy to forgets where exactly you are going or where in fact home is. the world becomes a fantastical place filled with unbounded possibilities and newness. we collect souvenirs along the way in hopes of keeping a reminder of beauty that was discovered. sometimes these treasures are tokens such as rocks or feathers. sometimes they are memories of places or of kindness and sometimes they are artistic inspiration, an image or an idea. in this case it was an image to frame an idea;
‘homeless hottie, on the corner next to you.’
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged amy vaillancourt, homeless hottie, Listpoem, nyx, woodward av
sumac grove
trespassing on an American farmer’s land for a few photographs while the vespas idle calmly on the side of a dirt road.
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged amy vaillancourt, cool lake, double exposure, holga camera, irons michigan, Listpoem, wren
party time
If there is one thing that is a common sighting in Detroit, it is the ‘party store’. They are typically peppered into the landscape along clusters of abandoned commercial areas on larger roads. They are open from 7am until 2am, save a few exceptions; January 1st: open until 4am, December 24th: closed at midnight and Sundays they do not open until 12pm, as a consideration for church goers. You can often cash checks, buy liquor, cigarettes, lotto tickets and a variety of pops and junk food. They use an elaborate sign campaign to advertise their products, which I liked because many of them date back to the fifties.
The French Canadian version of a ‘party store’ (a term mostly used in the mid-west of the U.S.) is called a Depanneur. The translation of this word to English is “a repairer of breakdowns” or “troubleshoot.”
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged amy vaillancourt, depanneur, detroit, double exposures, garage, holga camera, Listpoem, nyx, party store, supplies
house for rent
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, boarded up building, detroit, holga camera, Listpoem, nyx, woodward and 6 mile
Maria Bulgaria
friend with heart,
happy birthday
beefalo
when you are staring yourself down
and it is scarier than you remember
goons
two goons paying respect
as an alligator makes way
stone wall
layers on layers
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure, Montreal
Tagged amy vaillancourt, holga camera, nyx, pool on the mountain
off!
ghosts exiting
in quest for adventure
in a pile of sand
on a peninsula
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure, Nyx and Wren
Tagged amy vaillancourt, Listpoem, montreal, pool
field of dreams
zenith of daylight
summer solstice
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, holga camera
full reach rapunzel
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Tagged ghosts. montreal, nyx, Vanessa Morrell, westside st laurent alley
the median
this lonely set of highway barriers is a particularly old and beautiful one. i immediately was drawn to them, they had a sort of ancient throne appeal. the common barrier that you would find on a highway (also known as a jersey barrier or k-rail in the more western states) was originally designed for the safety of pedestrians as well as the elimination of head on collisions but has had arguable impacts on the movement of animals. the jersey barrier has more recently been deployed in anti-terrorism plights due to the durability of their reinforced steel design. their advantage in battle is their moveable but semi-permanent nature. but i must ask the question of this need for separation, if the lines are ephemeral how does one know what side of the line one is standing on?
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged christmas trees, griffon town, holga camera, jersey barriers, Listpoem, nyx
safari suffice
you can place her in the city, but the safari stays.
not half full
all that was in the pool is on her mind
vaillancourt and toes.
if you seek a body a water
to cool your feathers,
you may run into amy
and her pet duck, toes.
they never leave each others side.
often, in pursuit of a sitting pond,
they must resort to hoping fences
and illegally quenching their thirsts.
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, Listpoem, montreal
standing giants
steel skeletons exposed against the sky.
a perch for only the bravest of birds.
standing giants
mr. schuster
when i was young i had a teddy. i named him mr. schuster after the man across the street who had cancer and was going to die soon. I wanted his wife to ‘be okay’ when he died.
every night i slept with mr. schuster between my legs, like a preggers with a body pillow.
when the cancerous mr. schuster died, i didn’t tell his wife about my teddy. mr. schuster and i were too close, i didn’t want to share.
after high school mr. schuster and i parted ways. he wasn’t interested in university and even though i wasn’t either, i decided to go, in montreal.
i went to visit mr. schuster recently and he took me out to meet his friends.
it was a pretty wild night.
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Tagged Listpoem, montreal, mr. schuster, preggers, teddy bear, university of michigan
dandy lions
if you wake up planning to go to a castle
and find out it has been replaced by a condo
don’t cry in the rain
climb walls that outline a distant castle
a castle so far it is only in your mind
you can hide in the grass
romp in dandelion dander
loiter by highways
and all this will make you feel as grand as any ruined castle ruins
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, ghosts. montreal, Jessica Fahey, Listpoem, pantha du prince
crushed
the street hits back.
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Tagged can photography, ghosts. montreal, Listpoem, nyx, staples, street art, wren
tree top treason
yellow sun burns
even the trees were crying
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, Listpoem, montreal, weeping willow
futuristic sailors
the nautical hour of brilliant light
forecasting our sights
into falling night
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Tagged amy vaillancourt, Listpoem, siobhan, sunset, under a highway
cross hatching
a linear representation of shadow
parallel lines crossing on an angle
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged double exposures, holga camera, Listpoem, montreal, nyx
come join us
in our inner city trailer park
a parking-lot paradise
of high density living
with flexible habitable space
and a lack of rules.
with flexible habitable space
and a lack of rules.
know your neighbors, too well.
mobile homes
rvs
trailers
pop trailers
tents
hammocks
tarps
sleeping bags
rvs
trailers
pop trailers
tents
hammocks
tarps
sleeping bags
edge of the pond
it is as if they were the beginnings of frogs emerging from some melted run off water, mere tadpoles with transforming bodies. a huddled mass of a new years hatch, fresh and anticipative for warmer months.
(read in Herzog’s voice)
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged beaver pond, beaver pond Rupert, darryl singh, j morgan, jason mahon, Listpoem, nyx, Rupert, spring, Vanessa Morrell
been a long time, your clothes or mine?
mustard and chartreuse
wending your way
burgeoning feathers loose
goodbye, you say
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Tagged double exposures, Listpoem, nyx, sunny day, Vanessa Morrell, westside st laurent alley, yellow lens
the crossroads
why is it that strangers rarely if ever collide with one another? is it fear of proximity, intimacy? is it society’s ethics that drive us to comply to politeness or hurried steps?
or is it simply that we are on autopilot, our paths pre-determined in a complex maze of ties and steps?
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure
Tagged crossroads, Listpoem, nyx, railroad, toronto
highway prism
the turcot interchange was originally built as a “dramatic” display of montreal’s global position as a metropolis, yet it has become a crumbling problem. its design accommodated both ships and trains to pass underneath its expansive footprint and in this case, deviant youth.
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure, Montreal
Tagged holga camera, Listpoem, montreal, nyx, railroad, turcot interchange
Interdit
you may have been there before but not anymore
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Posted in All posts, Double Exposure, Montreal
Tagged alley, list poem, Listpoem, montreal, zone interdit
welcome home to alcove
every season is Junk’s favorite season, but when the sun is shining in Alcove , Junk is particularly alluring.
magpies crash, from glinting metal escaping through patches of rust,
Junk cars arrive unannounced in the night to huddle with each other,