As I write this, it is now early in the morning, November 12, 2005. Yesterday was Remembrance Day. I went to the service at the Cenitaph, the place where the war dead of Belleville and the rural area that surrounds our city are commemorated. My father was there, to lay a wreath in memory of my grandfather, Harry Phieffer, a veteran who passed away almost fifteen years ago, and the other members of our extended family who served our nation in time of war. My youngest sister and her husband were there, with my 2-year old niece Madison. Around me were veterans of all the services and the Merchant Marine, serving members of the armed forces, cadets, Scouts, police and firefighters, and a large number of us ordinary citizens.
As I watched and listened, the idea of such a sacrifice passed back and forth through my mind - what it meant, and what it must have meant to those who made it. I wish I could say I understand, but I don't.
I have studdied the matter as an amateur historian, as a student, etc. But how can I understand the pain of a veteran breaking down as he remembers killing an enemy soldier on Christmas Day of 1943 in Italy. How can I understand boys, yes boys, barely out of high school, dying by the hundreds during some battles. How can I understand the pain of those left behind, who bore the pain of losing someone they loved.
I intend to come back to this, because today I cannot do the matter it's full justice, and because this is not a matter to be dredged up on one day each year. Remembrance is our responsibility every day. So today I will remember. On another day I will try once again to comprehend.
authentic. intelligent. conservative.
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Friday, 11 November 2005
Thursday, 12 May 2005
Dust (Edmonton industrial area in spring)
Dust is everywhere, gravel and sand
Remnants of the winter, like it they hang on too long.
Potholes and ruts, souvenirs of frost and
Reminders of maintenance put off.
The magpies are here
Grass competing with small remainders of snow
Always the dust
The familiar rattle of a diesel, the whine of a turbocharger
Rattles from truck and trailer as they pass over the ubiquitous rail lines
The trees are still bare
Rail engines call out in the distance
The grey roads are brown with dust
Trucks are everywhere
Pick-ups and ‘hot shots’
The big pickers and oilfield trucks, massive with their cranes and
Heavy front axles
Tractors with every possible type of trailer, especially flatbeds
Yards are still wet, and mud is still the order of the day.
Equipment overflows, as material waits for the ground to firm up enough
To support the weight of the great trucks.
Spring in the gateway to Alberta’s oil country,
A sunny day, as I sit in my truck on the side of 66th Avenue.
And so much dust.
-Edmonton, Alberta
April 23, 2003
Remnants of the winter, like it they hang on too long.
Potholes and ruts, souvenirs of frost and
Reminders of maintenance put off.
The magpies are here
Grass competing with small remainders of snow
Always the dust
The familiar rattle of a diesel, the whine of a turbocharger
Rattles from truck and trailer as they pass over the ubiquitous rail lines
The trees are still bare
Rail engines call out in the distance
The grey roads are brown with dust
Trucks are everywhere
Pick-ups and ‘hot shots’
The big pickers and oilfield trucks, massive with their cranes and
Heavy front axles
Tractors with every possible type of trailer, especially flatbeds
Yards are still wet, and mud is still the order of the day.
Equipment overflows, as material waits for the ground to firm up enough
To support the weight of the great trucks.
Spring in the gateway to Alberta’s oil country,
A sunny day, as I sit in my truck on the side of 66th Avenue.
And so much dust.
-Edmonton, Alberta
April 23, 2003
Wednesday, 11 May 2005
Birch
Common in transition areas from
coniferous to deciduous
noted for bark
birch bark canoes
birch bark pants
etc
bark like paper
leaves moving in the breeze
the entire tree moves
more like a branch,
its trunk so thin
a walking stick for a giant
Edmonton, May 24, 2003
coniferous to deciduous
noted for bark
birch bark canoes
birch bark pants
etc
bark like paper
leaves moving in the breeze
the entire tree moves
more like a branch,
its trunk so thin
a walking stick for a giant
Edmonton, May 24, 2003
Monday, 9 May 2005
Walking Through West Edmonton Mall
Efficiently designed
To take away your money.
A “Gourmet World” sign
Over the fast food court
And two of everything
To take away your money.
A “Gourmet World” sign
Over the fast food court
And two of everything
Friday, 6 May 2005
The Game
A board layed upon a stool,
They face each other over it.
Even between friends, tension.
Cowboys and Indians
A Canadian motif to a game of the world.
Well, a north American motif
An unwitting metaphor for part of Canadian history
But no Mountie.
The game proceeds
a contest of wills between cats
Lions or tigers
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing
POUNCE!
And a piece is lost
And you are riveted
“Check” is called
and suddenly one player fights for his life
he seeks a way out
like a general he must extricate his army
But what can he do
Who must he sacrifice
The other moves in…
May 24, 2003
Sherwood Park, Alta.
I wrote this while watching a game of chess at a barbecue in this rural suburb of Edmonton, in a house that is better described as a lodge.
They face each other over it.
Even between friends, tension.
Cowboys and Indians
A Canadian motif to a game of the world.
Well, a north American motif
An unwitting metaphor for part of Canadian history
But no Mountie.
The game proceeds
a contest of wills between cats
Lions or tigers
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing
POUNCE!
And a piece is lost
And you are riveted
“Check” is called
and suddenly one player fights for his life
he seeks a way out
like a general he must extricate his army
But what can he do
Who must he sacrifice
The other moves in…
May 24, 2003
Sherwood Park, Alta.
I wrote this while watching a game of chess at a barbecue in this rural suburb of Edmonton, in a house that is better described as a lodge.
Forklifts
Scurrying about,
Beeping angrily at all
who block their paths
Strong as ants
But more like aphids
Feeding the ants
The great trucks lining up to load
Edmonton
May 26, 2003
I wrote this while waiting to pick up a load of lumber at the Weyerhauser yard in Edmonton. The contrasts in size and attitude can be quite interesting.
Beeping angrily at all
who block their paths
Strong as ants
But more like aphids
Feeding the ants
The great trucks lining up to load
Edmonton
May 26, 2003
I wrote this while waiting to pick up a load of lumber at the Weyerhauser yard in Edmonton. The contrasts in size and attitude can be quite interesting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)