POETRY · COMING IN 2027

Frenglish

Patrick Gadoury

A debut poetry collection from Northern Ontario, shaped by the English and French spoken at home.

Frenglish moves through family, language, memory, and belonging—exploring what happens when the language of the kitchen does not always match the language outside the door.

A Northern INK Signature Release.

Au Cas Où

A sample poem from Frenglish · Patrick Gadoury

Nobody said hoarding. They said au cas où.

Ma mère washed margarine tubs like plates.

A bag of bags hung fat behind the door.

Twist ties slept beside old twist-off caps.

Garde ça, she said, that lid fits something.

Dead batteries waited with one good screw.

Keys with no house kept all their little teeth.

Ça peut servir. The drawer believed it too.

We kept the buttons from coats long gone,

Canadian Tire money, funeral pens,

a number nobody called but didn’t throw out,

a sorry folded small enough to keep.

Years later, I found three bread clips in a bowl

and left them there, au cas où.

Meet the author

Patrick Gadoury is the editor behind Northern INK Publishing. Meet Patrick and discover the story behind Northern INK.

Publication & media enquiries

For release information or media enquiries, contact the editor.