Canada came through this week
as it does everyday
it delivers us our daily bread
prodigious with many vistas
both physical and spiritual
unwarranted by enterprise
it's all for the living
honouring the memory of the dead /
Canada delivers us safely
to tomorrow's open door
unencumbered by pestilence, oppression
and the manias of economic war
I salute this gift from coast to coast
to sunny coast
having felt the Arctic pulse
the thinness that is the magic of its air
flatness in the muskeg's offering
the moisture's fullness in the snow /
brilliance in all these shades of grey
yet we witness the huddle and clutch
of the populous
around all points south
this constant tilt of money, water, power
the siren call of summer's endless wealth
I take my rest in the tundra's silent magic
knowing well in my Nordic bones
Winter comes to save us, maybe from ourselves
pinning us to this place
this shield called Canada
where all the seasons treat us
with the prudence of their obligations and challenges
this weather brings
the beauty of the Maritime's command
the westerlies moderating Chinook
ultimately the vastness of the northern imprint
the endless acres of snow
melts to moisture
myriad lakes and streams
the original highway
of many dreams
November 2006
