Matthew King used to teach philosophy at York University in Toronto; he now lives in what Al Purdy called “the country north of Belleville”, where he tries to grow things, counts birds, takes pictures of flowers with bugs on them, and walks a rope bridge between the neighbouring mountaintops of philosophy and poetry. The winner of the 2020/21 FreeFall poetry contest and a runner-up for the 2023 Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award, he has poems published or forthcoming in places such as Best Canadian Poetry, Rattle, The Orchards Poetry Journal, and The New Quarterly. His photos and links to his poems can be found at birdsandbeesandblooms.com. [provided for the Arc Award of Awesomeness in June 2023]