"A poem comes when it damn well feels like it," says poet Lorri Neilsen Glenn, explaining how her work is born. "The muse shows up when she's ready, so it's not a matter of sitting there waiting for a bolt from the blue---it's kind of a slow awakening, really, rather than a bolt." In the case of Neilsen Glenn's new book of poetry, Lost Gospels, the muse appeared in the form of loss, which led to questions as to what to do after mourning, what matters and how to move forward. "I know it sounds grim and depressing, but it isn't," assures Halifax's former poet laureate. Reading the end of her poem, "Wild," shows how Neilsen Glenn shines light through the sorrow: "Oblivion is a wise/ old teacher: there is no try. It's all right. You didn't get it/ until this moment, did you? Wake every chance you can, join/ the chorus, praise the wild. Carry light." Singer-songwriter Rose Vaughan will perform some new work along with Neilsen Glenn's readings on Tuesday. –Holly Gordon