your ancestors did not persist for you to give up now

Janis La Couvée

take heart, dear ones

there is light and hope, love and joy

at the end of a road which seems long and dark

lean on wisdom transmitted through generations

as simple as the pie dough you are rolling

as complex as knowing wind, tide, current

the best spots for fishing,

what to do in lean years

how to work together, collaborate

celebrate community and family

each of us, a link in the chaina strand in the weba fibre in the ropejoining us as one – a breathing unit

in tune with the earth and universe

breathe – in and out, like tides on the shores

rush and roll, clatter of rock –

in tune with our heartbeat

what the old ones knew – we hope to find

a talisman and help against hard times

stores of resilience

"Whether you have a strategy or not, submitting for publication is a numbers game and it is best not to overthink it. Aim for a queue of 100 works in circulation at any one time."

Janis La Couvée

reflecting on their key takeaways from the Fahmidan Mentorship Program.

Janis La Couvée (she/her) is a writer and poet with a love of wild green spaces, dedicated to conservation efforts in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada—home since time immemorial to the Liǧʷiɫdax̌ʷ people. Words now or soon in Thema, Bulb Culture Co, Rochford Street Review, Harpy Hybrid Review, Litmora, Pure Slush, Counterflow 3 (Wordstorm Society of the Arts), Jake the Anti-Literary Magazine, Splendor of Wings (League of Canadian Poets chapbook), among others, and has been anthologized in New York Writers Coalition’s Common Unity and the 2023 New Feathers Anthology. Her poem The Man is Not was short-listed for the inaugural Van Isle Poetry Collective contest. She is a member of the Federation of BC Writers, Wordstorm Society of the Arts and an Associate Member of the League of Canadian Poets. Online at janislacouvee.com; @lacouvee on X, Mastodon and Bluesky, @janislacouveeonline on Instagram and Facebook