Put Me In A Canoe

Put me in a canoe before I die
Let turtles sunning on bare branches
twisted by wind and ice back into the river
and the ducks taking shelter under
their stark grey canopy
pass before my eyes

instead of my life

Put me in a canoe
so I can marvel at the Mesozoic form
of the blue heron in lazy flight
one final time

I will learn from the wise pike's ecstasy
when breaching the surface off my bow

to enter
however briefly
a higher world

The Geese

or swans or storks
What do I know from birds?
Big white feathery things
you drive by to look
and forget when you reach
someplace important - destinations
are always important when one is
in a hurry. I am always so.

But these were geese to remember
One standing next to the drive
that circles York University's
horrid steppe of bark-stripped trees
and monumental concrete buildings
Stalinesque, unassailable

its mouth open
its voice unearthly loud
unearthly sad, two clear
dissonant notes resonating
in a single throat

The other a few feet away
immobile on the ring-road
Its throat recently crushed
by automobile tires

I know this is not dream scape
My daughter saw this too
and instantly hated food, her lover.
cars, York University, maybe even me
that a passing car
could sever
love so strong

"as if an animal knows love"
I thankfully kept from my lips this
banal comfortless lie.