Sphinx

shining knight diving under
falsely serene waters of mortal silence

tears and laughter and rage she opens doors
lets a tiny light shine on undesirable truths in need

enduring trembling sporadic back and forth
off the path and back, Lots-a-lot won’t let you be lost alone

is this not the point

In this modern epic poetry collection, Moonlily, an education assistant, joins a classroom camping expedition up Sphinx Mountain, a forbidding peak in the Ktunaxa Homelands, British Columbia. An unexpected overnight snowfall and the teacher’s failure to respond appropriately endanger the entire group. After a harrowing climb back down, Moonlily files a feedback form outlining her concerns about the expedition.

Instead of instigating the change she hopes to see, this act of good faith plunges her into her worst nightmare, making her question not just her new career in the classroom but her very sanity.

Told through poems that weave images of knights, death, and trauma, this story relates the heartfelt but unvarnished experiences of education assistants who work fervently every day to protect and support the most precious people in our world: children.