The poems in Confirm Humanity are often juxtapositions between life’s joyful moments and the inevitably sorrowful.

With a background in journalism, Mannix’s perspective frequently comes from a place of observation; asking why people do the maddening things they do, and what, if anything, is the solution? The writing touches on the darkness of humanity, and the ways we—as citizens, women, mothers—learn to endure and persevere in light. There is awe for the natural world, but also cynicism and grief about how humans interact with the earth and one another.

Like the box on a website that asks you to click to confirm you are human, these poems collectively ask their reader to consider the complexity of human emotion and action in this mysterious, maddening, and ultimately beautiful world.

Excerpt

Disturbing the Peace

It’s hard to keep your muscles loose, your teeth unclenched.

Hard to hear the news over and over and over—insert

city, number of dead here. Painting layer after layer of

rage on top of you. It’s a wonder you’re not shellacked in

place, fist up and mouth open, mid-anger shriek. How do

you stay soft? How do you keep from popping your Ps on

impossible words like prayer, peace, protection? How do

you say you’re a pacifist and mean it? It used to be so easy.

Remember raising two fingers, like you saw the long-haired

rock stars do on the covers of your dad’s records? There’s

a plaque you still have in your living room, PEACE, LIKE

CHARITY, BEGINS AT HOME. You’ve believed it for a

long time. But lately you worry it ends there too. Praise,

to all the brave souls, who still turn on the TV, refresh the

newsfeed, open the front door, wave to a neighbour—their

bodies as supple as a yogi’s. Belief cushioning their red, red

hearts.

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About the Author

Kim Mannix (she/her) is a journalist, poet and short fiction writer who lives and creates on Treaty Six territory in Sherwood Park, Alberta.

Born and raised in Saskatoon, she is a graduate of both the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina and has lived and worked across Canada. Her passion for climate justice issues, the importance of art, feminism and parenthood intersect in both her creative and professional pursuits.

Mannix is a contributing editor of Watch Your Head, a climate crisis anthology, and a freelance entertainment and lifestyle writer. She currently serves as the Vice President of the Edmonton Poetry Festival and is an avid believer that everyone, everywhere has a little poetry in their soul.

Her poetry and prose have appeared in numerous Canadian and American journals and anthologies. Confirm Humanity is her first book of poetry.