1st Prize winner of the 2017 Occasional Geist Erasure Contest, announced in Geist 108. Erasure poetry begins with an existing piece of text. Letters, words and punctuation are removed—or erased. What is left behind is a new stand-alone poem, one that both complements and gives new meaning to the Erasure Text. The Erasure Text for the 2017 Geist Erasure Poetry Contest is an excerpt from Wacousta by John Richardson, one of the oldest Canadian novels.

TINDER BIO

I’m great.

I’d rather not

die alone.

I’m slow to improve.

I don’t party.

I have a rat

and two cacti.

All are named

Don.

I don’t get high

and I floss nightly

so don’t worry

about that.

I can count to eleven

in Portuguese

FYI.

I kiss with vigour.

Sex is cool.

If you want to grab a drink