CALL OF THE LONE MAPLE
for Lainee
"Canadian, all colours & countries you are
drop what you do, it is time to leave the labour
that feeds, clothes, shelters, calls itself your life!
Go to the door & unlock it, step proudly
from the home that owns & lives in you,
leave the castle empty to grow dust & creaks.
Walk to the forgotten path, left unfollowed
that day by the forest, feel again the urge to be lost,
fear & curiosity of the child; the path beckons,
calls you to tread, go in & stand at its end, unafraid
in the open field above the earth of a nation,
let your toes run like roots down the buried histories–
there waits the riches you wish!
See the sky! Throw your arms like branches into the air,
reach! see the sun! look! from your fingers let out
the driven leaf to blow in the breeze of your blood
to feed the slow cloud at home over the provinces,
the country growing your mind.
B.C. recall the Socreds! Let go of the damage,
follow the heart’s detour, return your energy
to the tree’s safety, growth of the young mountain,
the wave coming in clean, B.C. forget nothing!
But step on when tomorrow surfaces.
Hear the freedom! Open your fists like buds
out, out into the sound, listen! hear the future?
Quiet! From your palms let out the patriotic fruit
to hang in the shade of your income,
to cool the burning rain that slides from the skin
as a plow signals the gull.
Prairies continue the bounty!
Cowboys ride your fable, combines gather by families,
copper sleeps unaware of fortune,
so much waiting below! so much waiting above!
We are not in the time of the end.
Prairies control the worry, sell only what today saves.
Smell the pedigree! Drop your nose like sap
down, down into the wood, breathe! smell the people?
Remember! From your mouth let out the aging rings
to tell of the truth in your bones,
to stare in tides of wind at backs bent by the land,
the story writing your name.
Ontario guard the flag! No stars, no stripes,
no red, white, and blue. Must the beaver’s good eye
ride the pond’s first ripple, close when the eagle fails to feed?
Ontario storm the house! But sling out who let the past slide.
Taste the era! Peel your fear like bark,
rip, rip into the moment, live!, taste the energy?
Swallow! From your skin let out the hopeful seed
to float in the heat of your eyes,
to behold the learning heart at one with the wise
humming the festival of faith.
Quebec don’t go! Pull in the plank, embrace the English tongue, it can reduce the hurt & leave free happiness.
The past gave rights, the future will listen.
Quebec drop anchor! But sail in where reason swells.
Touch the hardship! Sift your soul like soil, wail!
Touch the humanity? feel! from your body let out the lone maple,
to stand in the grove of your problems,
to tower over the trial that money tries each minute
as a siren stops the speed.
Maritimes face the gale! It comes off the Hill,
is deaf to the farmer, puts on a perfect limp past the miner,
floats by the fisherman without a wave.
Maritimes forge the nail! But sink it in one swing.
Live the life? Return your flesh like leaves,
seek, seek into the ground, grow!, live the love? Strive!
From your strength let out the vital oxygen
to swell in the trunk of your routines,
to purify the stale power in simple pursuit of food,
the struggle draining your dreams.
Yukon & N.W.T. the clean-up is on!
Keep the harpoon sharp, keep the igloo built,
keep the snow-shoe tied, the untold barrels are rising,
the white-man weeps in the snow, lost seal on thinning ice.
Yukon & N.W.T. the contamination is out!
But skin-on where the whale sings.
Canadian, all classes & customs you are
hail what you have, it is time to thank the grass
that changes, grasps, bends, climbs between your toes!
Return to the path & welcome it, step happily
from the field that taught & believed in you,
leave the acre full to yield purpose & invitation,
run to the busy neighbour left unnoticed that day by the fence,
share the urge to be close, the story & mystery
of the moment, the new meaning in you to donate,
go out & stand as a strength in the vocal street
above the layers of a federation,
let your desire lift like lids through the rare certainty
to utter, ‘I AM ALIVE…THE TREE IN ME IS COMPLETE!’"
Chilliwack, B.C.
1993