Poems

Here are the poems I'm writing as we travel across Canada. Most are in a rough state and will need more work. Some are just ideas. Some will be abandoned. But hopefully a few will make it.

Looking for Bears on the Rocky Mountaineer

(from Jasper to Kamloops)

As the sun starts to rise

We rub sleep from our eyes

And we check-in our luggage with care

We wave Jasper farewell

What stories we’ll tell

Of the day that we spotted a bear.

As the train pulls away

And the carriages sway

There’s a definite buzz in the air

Sure, the Rockies are cool

And the trees in the fall

Are real neat. But we want to see bear.

Our guide* says black bears

Like to hang around moose

Though the truth is that moose are quite rare

So far we’ve seen trees

And Jill saw some bees**

But we’re hoping that soon we’ll see bear

* Brandi

** Well, one bee actually

We glimpsed a black dog

And a duck in a bog

And a rock that was shaped like a hare*

And passing Mount Cheadle

The tracks of a weasel**

But sadly, as yet, not a bear

* Very amusing!

** Not actually true. I used my poetic licence here

By Pyramid Falls

Where the bald eagle calls

And the mosses that that grow are quite rare*

Said our guide, “Yesterday

A bear came out to play

And posed for some photos.” Oh yeah?

* True fact

There’s a man! By the track!

He waves, we wave back

And we laugh like we haven’t a care

And there are trees, and more trees

Trees, trees and yes… trees

But we’d quite like a glimpse of a bear

We’re approaching Kamloops

Where the bald eagle swoops

But of one thing you should be aware

We’ve seen many great things

With legs* and with wings

But we haven’t seen one blessed… wait!

Is it? Yes… no…. yes…
No… it's not a bear.**

Never mind... next time, eh?

* Not a great line. Because birds also have legs, obviously

** It was a black bin bag

Grandparent’s House

Back in the dim interior

Of my grandparent’s house

The black and gold sewing machine

The gloomy green and maroon wallpaper

The dark shine of polished wood

And in the front bedroom

My great grandmother

A mystery to me now, of course

Like the wide, dusty road

Of Fort Edmonton

Before the tarmac was laid

Post Office

Edmonton, Canada. 1905

It feels like

I’ve been standing

at this polished counter

gazing through the bars

waiting for a three cent stamp

forever

Spirits

Pray tell,

how many spirits

of the First Nation

are still hanging around

The Forks, Winnipeg,

these days,

Great White Owl?

Pope’s Visit

When the Pope

Visited Fort Edmonton

He travelled in a white, glass Cadillac

Not unlike the donkey

Jesus rode*

*and with heavier security

Haiku

Having a go at some haiku…

Red Lake. Three ravens

dart across the dawn sky.

The birches shiver.

At the landfill.

Two bald eagles flap around

the sea of debris.

A black bear

at the top of the drive.

Shadows in the dusk.

Ghosts

When the bear is at its blackest

And the night has lost its moon

When the wind is at its keenest

And the ice has lost its tune

When you wake up in the darkest place

To the touch of winter’s breath

Then the spirit of the mine has passed

And left its card called death

Where the Road Runs Out

We are as far north as the road runs

In Ontario

In a house by the water

In Red Lake

Granite sky, wind blowing in

From the West

Collars up, winter clothes ready

Paper birches, leaves turning gold

And the gold seam below us

In the Canadian Shield

Now the lake clears its throat

Waiting to sing the big freeze

Water Buffalo Coffee Shop

Strawberry Fields Forever

Strawberry tea

Marshmallow shot

Steamed milk

London Fog

Earl Grey tea

Vanilla shot

Steamed milk

Eat your heart out

Mr Starbucks

A View of the Lake

Sumac on the turn

From our vantage point we see

a small, turquoise boat

Bear Watch

We got ravens

Bald eagles

Turkey vultures

Scavenging the sea of debris

Black plastic caught by the wind

And a black bear

Intent on rooting out a treat

At the Red Lake landfill

Power Plays

Hydro-electric lines march across

The railway-scarred landscape

Of St Thomas

Its Station reinvented as a museum

And a monument apologises to the First Nation

For breaking a treaty

And drowning their land and livelihood

At the Ear Falls Dam

Sleeping Giant

Sleeping Giant

Thunder Bay

Rock Formation

Sleeping Giant

Red Lake

Pile of dead mattresses

Landfill

Quidditch Olympics

Since the new rule

Allowing other forms of flight

The Canadian quidditch team

With their new microlite technology

Have reached second in the league

Second to the Chinese

With their state-of-the-art

hot-air balloons