Thursday, December 22, 2011

BLESSINGS AND GRATITUDE












I live in this city on the lip of the Arctic Circle
Where winter rushes in and stays like the relative
You disown but can't throw out no matter how
Much you might like to because he's family
Still, there is magic here where the aurora
Dances and cultures mix with abandon
The famous five began their fight to establish
Women as people under the law – right here
Where the seat of the provincial government is also
Friends from the east come here and say
How do you stand it, it's so flat this town
So I drag them downtown and then to the river
And threaten to make them climb the cliffs
Up from the valley and then tell me how flat
It is here in this city that I now call home and love
Why, when you could have stayed in Calgary
Where you could see the mountains everyday
Did you move here, they ask foolishly and then
Back to the 
river valley we go and I take a picnic
And sometimes a tent and we camp there
Until they see what I see, smell the aspen, realize
That down by the water, even in the heart of the
Metropolis, you cannot see any urbanity – a miracle that
Then we go to a festival, topside, or the 
dragon-boat
Races
, or Chinatown or little Italy, or just home to relax
And finally, finally, my so-called cosmopolitan friends
Get it – have their aha moment and say things
About how they don't guess I'll ever be moving
Back east, will I – I don't guess...

4 comments:

  1. Greetings: Excellent Blog.

    Happy Happy New Year.

    Best Wishes for the year of 2012…

    Your contribution is always welcome!

    Lots of blessings and cheers sending your way.

    See you soon.

    xoxox

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  2. Glad you liked it - thanks for coming by ...

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  3. Thanks for sharing this poem about Edmonton! It is a real character revelation. Have not been west of Thunder Bay but enjoyed all that I saw out to the east coast over the years. Hope to still see the western part of our amazing country. This glimpse of Edmonton is encouraging!

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