The ethereal tenant
Is surprisingly friendly,
Opening doors and windows
When they find it too warm
In the middle of January;
Making sure I turn off the light
Before I finish
And on again just to be sure;
Leaving me notes
On the bathroom mirror
And on the bedroom wall.
They’re unemployed
Only in the traditional sense,
My incorporeal companion.
Ally is a third-year English and history student at Carleton University. They are a queer, autistic writer and painter with a love of whimsy and melancholy alike. In the poems “Spring” and “The Time-Honoured Tradition of Moving Away and Losing Touch,” they express a mixture of these two opposing aesthetics. In “Roommate,” they explore a much more playful perspective while writing of something that could be seen as sinister. They have never had their work published but are grateful for the opportunity.
