They stripped apart the text
Like some debone a chicken
No mercy or
Regard for what is sacred
(to some)
(words not chickens)
Uni
85
1985
The Rock
Split hoof print embedded
Some lost long eons ago
It’s a part of our story
Ties us
Binds us
The pasture trek a
Summer ritual
Rusty well water and saltines sustain
The farm’s sold now
Thank you for moving it to Lornie’s
It’s comforting/stabilizing to know it’s close at hand
Should I ever need to visit
(and I might)
Prairie oh prairie
How you call me home
Is that what’s the matter with me
I moved
Milky Tea
Milky Tea
Slurped from the saucer
Norman don’t do that
A sidelong glance
Thank goodness for Grandpas
Who
Do
Things
Their
Own
Way
(not always polite)
Watch and Learn
wee ones
Watch and Learn
Walk your own way
Walk your own way
Even if you get heck
Walk your own way
Good trade
small fist on
horse back
clenched tight
a grubby grip
round
a lilac gift
bartered for
Ice cream
with Mrs ?
in a small town shop
good trade
Confessions
young and pretty
old and careworn
both
she gave me perfume
(i can still smell it)
foreign and fragrant
tempting
a gift
(of sorts)
from
a traveler through
her used body
how did she end up here
(hotelier come escort)
no one told her
she would
never stop crying
for the babe
she had
no way for
so she told me
a stranger
Valentine’s Day
I dreamed a dream And you were you (but not exactly really) Taller Kinder Funnier Sweeter And you were almost dead (in bed) And I had come (with my new truck) And it was Valentines Day And you got up and said Come on, I want to go and buy your Grandma a silver chain And we toddled and wobbled to find my truck (of course I had forgotten where it was parked) And we got in And you said This is a pretty nice truck And I am seen and loved and understood And I see and love and understand Grandpa
Transported
Caraganas dreaming of popping their seeds And summer lotions And trees in all their fullness And sun warmed grass And flowers And breeze And I’m transported To a Thousand happy memories And the Joy of them Makes me Weep (in) Peace And Gratitude
I Rode My Bike
I rode my bike Past the Saskatoon Crematorium Past S.I.R. Past Dundurn Past The Blackstrap And The weather changed (as weather will) And who knew there were hills on these prairies I arrived Cold and Tired and Wet and Hungry and Thirsty (very thirsty) Thankful the tires were intact (unprepared as I was) At Grandpa and Grandmas Hanley Saskatchewan And if they were surprised They showed it not The stoic politeness of sodbusters restrained The natural response To my foolishness Cause No one (generally) Rode their bike On the highway (in those days) And Love and grace Were more important 14
Longing
Looking for home and Longing for land that Owns me and The particular smell of Sod turned mud when First drops of rain hit Sun baked dust
Grid Road
Every once in a while I need to do That Prairie thing At a grid road intersection When no one is in sight And swing down into the other lane And dive into the dip And feel the g-force pull And the dime-store danger of being On the wrong side of the road For a hot minute Every once in a while
Colleen R. Jantzen 