Commentary | It is Dangerous to Read Newspapers by Margaret Atwood

In “It is Dangerous to Read Newspapers”, Atwood depicts a narrator distressed by the terrors of the world around her, brought to life through the newspapers she reads. The poem claims that reading newspapers is dangerous. Atwood connects the lives of people in war-torn, devastated countries to that of the narrator, who enjoys a life of comfort away from war. Her only connection to the danger experienced by so many is in reading the news, which is her only source of information about the harsh horrors of the world.

2009 Poem

My 2009 poem is called The Dream©. And, in fact, if you look below these very words, you are looking at a poem that won me the runners-up prize from all of Canada.

The Dream©

Soaring up into the night,
Riding on a beam of light,
Blueish stars float all around-
What a world without a sound!
Up, up, up, into the sky,
Without worries, up we fly,
Leaving all we know behind,
Nothing here can sadden our mind!
Passing by, a floating cloud;
It turns into a great, big crowd.
Breaking the silence, the crowd cheers me on.
Where am I now? I’m on my own front lawn!
I look all around and soon realize
That it’s the world I know and now recognize.
My house is behind me and my pond is in front.
A bunny on the path makes an acrobatic stunt.
I watch, mesmerized, and the little thing grinned.
I hear a loud call: it’s the call of the wind!
The sound twirls ’round me and I can’t feel the ground.
I open my eyes and hear a big sound.
I now know my mother is somewhere around.
The dream is now gone, but the memory remains.
I get ready for school, as a new day awaits.

As Published by
Poetry Institute of Canada