for Mark


Like the fabled El Dorado
it beckoned ever stronger now
just over the horizon
where all our relatives could be found

Early childhood visits in summers
past dreams fulfilled
when to a small boy
wrapped in the innocence of the 60s
two weeks there
seemed too long in coming
then gone so fast

This air force family - no more
transferring itself
to small town Canada
now only 40 miles
from the poetry of a million lights
Peace Tower and Parliament
and leading to them
a ten mile strip called Bank Street
where anything could be bought

But for now
we were happy with main street
covered in a five minute walk
where one could comfortably
say hello to strangers
easily recognize fellow residents
from those out of town
and at home
leave doors unlocked

In summer
my brother and I
would ride our bikes
up to the highway Dairy Queen
and while eating our cones
smile at the ribbon of gold
eyes following to where
it disappeared on the horizon
and to a dream fulfilled
but a few years away





© 1999
Photo © 2012 by author

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02/21/2013

Author's Note: The small town Canada referred to in the poem is Arnprior, Ontario. In the late 1960s, population, 5,700. My family lived there from the summer of 1966 till December 13, 1971, when we moved to Ottawa. Arnprior was a great place to live as a kid, yet knowing that big city Ottawa was where my destiny lay. Published in the poetry magazine, Alter Vox, July, 2000, Ottawa, Canada. Produced by Luciano Diaz. Also published in The Ontario Poetry Society (T.O.P.S.) chap book We Are T.O.P.S. Vol. 4 No.1 Jan. to Apr. 2003, Toronto, ON. I.B. Iskov Editor/Publisher.

Posted on 02/22/2013
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