Analysis of Al from Belleville, or thereabouts

Head up, adventuresome

From Belleville and

Prince Edward County.

Bird sanctuaries, cottage folk.

Old wartime airstrip.

Wave at Ivanhoe, the cheese place.

Gaze from marina docks

Trees everywhere, hoping.

Near First Nations lands.

Highway seven crossing

And if unlucky a right turn

Toward nation’s capital

After Perth and Carlton Place.

Ottawa was usually

A nasty bone in his throat

Mulroney, Chretien,  Martin

(and the shipping company).

But Levesque was far worse.

Dissecting a Nation, maybe.

As if ready to detonate something

Of value and

Turn from hominids

To other mammals.

Al’s favourites since

And made mythical in

Many frozen moments.

Beavers of Renfrew.

Mythical Fox jogging

Highway 500 at midnight.

Comical furry sled huskies

In Pang on the Baffin.

Riding the rails out to BC.

MURDERING a pestering

Maybe, not sure.

(He vanished into rail-side brush.

At high speed.)

Working timber, apples.

Fraser River marvels.

Short RCAF commission.

Marrying a solid partner.

Cuba, post revolution’s

Mexico and hot mayhem.

And panhandling, full culture.

Leningrad with all those

Churches in mothballs.

Can’t keep Al* quiet.

Typewriter always clacking.