Open Wide a Wilderness Canadian Nature Poems

Edited by NANCY HOLMES Introduction by DON MCKAY

Wilfrid Laurier University Press IfwuTH Contents

xv PREFACE

xvii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I INTRODUCTION: "GREAT FLINT SINGING" BY DON MCKAY

THE POEMS 35 Thomas Cary from Abram's Plain 38 Adam Allan A Description of the Great Falls, of the River Saint lohn, in the Province of 40 Ann Cuthbert Knight from A Year in 41 Adam Hood Burwell from Talbot Road 44 Standish O'Grady from The Emigrant 46 Adam Kidd from The Huron Chief 48 William Kirby from The U.E., "Niagara" 50 Alexander McLachlan The Hall of Shadows 53 Charles Sangster from The St. Lawrence and theSaguenay 55 George Martin The lewelled Trees 57 Charles Mair The Last Bison 63. Isabella V.Crawford The Lily Bed 65 Isabella V. Crawford from Malcolm's Katie 67 Ethelwyn Wetherald Unheard Niagaras 68 Ethelwyn Wetherald The Horned Larks in Winter 69 Susan Frances Harrison Rhapsodie (II) [Seranus] 70 Susan Frances Harrison A Canadian Anthology [Seranus] 73 Wilfred Campbell Indian Summer 74 Wilfred Campbell How One Winter Came in the Lake Region 75 Charles G. D. Roberts The Clearing 76 Charles G. D. Roberts from'Ave!" 80 Charles G. D. Roberts The Skater 81 A Vagabond Song 82 Bliss Carman Vestigia 83 Pauline Johnson The Flight of the Crows (Tekahionwake) 85 Pauline Johnson The Camper (Tekahionwake) 86 Archibald Lampman Freedom 88 Archibald Lampman In November 90 Archibald Lampman To the River 91 Archibald Lampman On the Companionship with Nature 92 Frederick G. Scott The Unnamed Lake 94 The Height of Land 99 Duncan Campbell Scott The Wood by the Sea 100 D. E. Hatt Sitka Spruce 101 D. E.Hatt Mosquitoes 103 Robert W. Service The Pines 105 Robert W. Service The Spell of the Yukon 107 E.J.Pratt The Ice-Floes 111 E.J.Pratt Sea-Gulls 112 E.J.Pratt from Towards the Last Spike 115 E.J.Pratt The Good Earth 116 Marjorie Pickthall When Winter Comes 117 Marjorie Pickthall Inheritance 118 Kenneth Leslie Tasseled Thought 119 Kenneth Leslie from By Stubborn Stars 120 W.W.E.Ross Fish 121 W.W. E.Ross The Snake Trying 122 F.R. Scott Laurentian Shield 123 F.R.Scott Flying to Fort Smith 124 Boy Remembers in the Field 125 Raymond Knister The Hawk 126 Chief Dan George from My Heart Soars 128 Robert Finch Silverthorn Bush

VI CONTENTS 129 Martha Ostenso Lexicon 130 Martha Ostenso The Return 131 L. A. Mackay Snow Story 132 A. J. M. Smith The Lonely Land 133 R. G. Everson L'Orignal 135 David 141 Earle Birney Bushed 142 Dorothy Roberts Private 143 Charles Bruce Fall Grass 144 Charles Bruce Orchard in the Woods 145 John Glassco Catbird 146 A. M.Klein Beaver 147 Malcolm Lowry The Glaucous Winged Gull 148 Pioneer 149 Dorothy Livesay "Haunted House" 150 Gregory J. Power Bogwood 151 A Poet's-Eye View 152 Anne Wilkinson Nature Be Damned 155 Wilfred Watson Sermon on Bears 157 Irving Layton The Predator 159 Irving Layton Lake Selby 161 George Johnston from "Under the Tree" 162 George Johnston The Creature's Claim 163 Anne Marriott Sandstone 164 Anne Marriott Self-Guided Nature Trail 165 Douglas LePan The Green Man 168 Douglas LePan Black Bear 169 Patrick Anderson Landscape 170 Patrick Anderson Song of Intense Cold 171 P. K. Page Personal Landscape 172 P. K. Page Summer 173 P. K. Page Planet Earth 175 Miriam Waddington Understanding Snow 177 Miriam Waddington Dead Lakes 179 Fred Cogswell Paleontology Lecture: Birds (Circa 2500 A.D.; 180 Fred Cogswell A Grey World Lightened by Snow 182 AlPurdy Trees at the Arctic Circle 184 AlPurdy The Winemaker's Beat-Etude

CONTENTS 186 AlPurdy Red Leaves 187* Snow 188 Margaret Avison Sparrows 189 Weeping Willow 190 Raymond Souster Queen Anne's Lace 191 EliMandel From the North Saskatchewan 192 Douglas Lochhead Open wide a wilderness 197 Elizabeth Brewster Starlings 198 Elizabeth Brewster Blueflag 199 Elizabeth Brewster Alchemist 200 Anne Szumigalski On Conquest 202 Milton Acorn The Goldenrods Are Coming Up 203 Milton Acorn Crabgrass 204 Rona Murray The Death of the Bear 206 Joan Finnigan November on the Orser Farm 207 Colleen Thibaudeau Getting the High Bush Cranberries 209 Robin Skelton Stone-Talk 210 James Reaney The Crow 211 James Reaney The Morning Dew 212 Phyllis Webb A Long Line of Baby Caterpillars 213 Phyllis Webb from "A Question of Questions" 215 John Smith The Birds Returned 216 Robert Kroetsch from "Seed Catalogue" 217 Robert Kroetsch How I Joined the Seal Herd 221 D. G. Jones Snow Buntings 225 Stanley Cooperman The Rivals 226 Kenneth McRobbie Something Wild for Our Room 228 Richard Outram Turtle 229 Peter Trower Goliath Country 230 Peter Trower The Alders 231 Rita Joe The Art of Making Quillboxes 232 St. John River 233 Alden Nowlan The Bull Moose 234 Joe Rosenblatt Mansions 235 Joe Rosenblatt Caterpillar Disarmed 236 Peter Blue Cloud For a Dog-Killed Doe (Aroniawenrate) 237 M. Travis Lane Field

CONTENTS 239 M. Travis Lane Trout Lily 240 Heather Spears How Animals See 241 JoyKogawa Rain Day in Beacon Hill 242 Pat Lowther Anemones 243 Pat Lowther Elegy for the South Valley 245 E.D. Blodgett Doma 246 Christopher Wiseman Snaring Valley 248 Lionel Kearns Trophy 249 Glen Sorestad Shitepoke 251 Edward A. Lacey Mossbacks 255 John Thompson Poem of Absence 256 John Thompson Ghazal V 257 John Newlove The Well-Travelled Roadway 258 John Newlove In the Forest 260 J. Michael Yates from The Great Bear Lake Meditations 262 bill bissett othr animals toys 264 Patrick Lane Buffalo Stones 265 Patrick Lane Winter 13 266 Patrick Lane Cougar Men 268 Dennis Lee Civil Elegy 3 272 Dennis Lee if 273 Dennis Lee holdon 274 The Animals in That Country 275 Margaret Atwood Sundew 277 Margaret Atwood Fishing for Eel Totems 278 FredWah Don't Cut Me Down 279 David W. McFadden My Grandmother Learns to Drive ! 280 David W. McFadden Dead Belugas 282 Tom Dawe Sandpiper 283 Tom Dawe Alders 284 Gwendolyn MacEwen Dark Pines Under Water 285 Len Gasparini Elegy 287 JonWhyte Larix Lyallii 289 Eric Ormsby Wood Fungus 290 Andrew Suknaski Soongeedawn 291 Diana Hartog The Great Blue Heron 292 Don McKay Field Marks 293 Don McKay Song for the Song of the Varied Thrush

CONTENTS 294^Don McKay Load 295 Don McKay Precambrian Shield 297 Daphne Marlatt retrieving madrone 298 Sue Wheeler Sing a Song of Blackbirds 299 Michael Ondaatje Breaking Green 301 Michael Ondaatje Beaver 302 Jim Green Seismic Line 303 Paulette Jiles Blacksnake 304 Paulette Jiles Life in the Wilderness 305 Peter Sanger Silver Poplar 306 JaneMunro Salmonberries 307 how crow brings spring in 309 Sid Marty Three Bears 312 Sid Marty Big Game 313 John Donlan High Falls 314 John Donlan Muskrat 315 John Reibetanz The Call 317 John Reibetanz Hummingbird 319 Charles Lillard Little Pass Lake 320 Peter Van Toorn Mountain Maple 322 Ken Belford I was too poor to want to go camping 323 TomWayman The Ecology of Place 325 TomWayman The Man Who Logged the West Ridge 327 Robert Bringhurst Anecdote of the Squid 329 Robert Bringhurst Rubus Ursinus: A Prayer for the Blackberry Harvest 330 Robert Bringhurst Gloria, Credo, Sanctus et Oreamnos Deorum 333 Sharon Thesen Axe Murderer 334 Sharon Thesen Scenes from the Missing Picture 337 Leona Gom North of Town 338 David Zieroth Coyote Pup Meets the Crazy People in Kootenay National Park 340 A. F. Moritz The Ravine 341 John Steffler from The Grey Islands 344 John Steffler The Green Insect 345 John Pass Kleanza Creek 347 Anne Compton Trees in Summer 348 Anne Compton June Bugs 349 Crispin Elsted Swan Written

CONTENTS 350 Lorna Crozier Carrots 351 Lorna Crozier A Prophet in His Own Country 352 Kristjana Gunnars Thorleifur Joakimsson, Daybook III 353 Brian Henderson Theory of the Family 354 Brian Henderson Mortals 355 Robyn Sarah Nature Walk 356 Tirri Lilburn Ghost Song 358 Tim Lilburn Contemplation Is Mourning 359 Tim Lilburn from To the River 360 Agnes Walsh Angel's Cove 361 Brian Brett Small Joys on the Farm 363 Brian Brett Blue Heron Moon 365 Don Domanski Owl 366 Don Domanski from "All Our Wonder Unavenged" 367 MaryDalton Pitcher Plant; Bog Pluto 368 MaryDalton Stingers 369 Harry Thurston Dragging Bottom 370 Christopher Dewdney August 371 Christopher Dewdney Out of Control: The Quarry 372 Susan Musgrave I Took a Wire Cage into the Woods 373 John B. Lee The Day I Found Four Score of Starlings Dead in the Franklin 374 Peter Christensen Keeping Fear Away 376 Roo Borson Upset, Unable to Sleep, I Go for a Walk and Stumble Upon Some Geese 377 Roo Borson The Trees 378 Roo Borson Snake 379 Julie Berry ' daisy cole's woods 380 Daniel David Moses A Spider Song 381 Cornelia Hoogland The Orcas, Great Story 382 Barry Dempster Wild, Wild 383 Monty Reid 83H2978 384 Brian Bartlett If I Knew the Names of Everything 385 Brian Bartlett from "Talking to the Birds" 386 Joan Crate The Year of the Coyote 388 Ross Leckie The Natural Moose 389 John Terpstra Varieties: Acer negundo ; 390 Marlene Cookshaw Fox

CONTENTS XI 392 Allan Cooper TheSeed of the Blue Spruce 393 Erin Mour^ Vision of a Woman Hit by a Bird 395 Erin Mour6 Tropic Line 397 Jan Zwicky Lancey Meadows 398 Jan Zwicky Bee Music 399 Jan Zwicky Aspen in the Wind 400 Armand Garnet Ruffo Bear Death 401 Armand Garnet Ruffo Kebsquasheshing 402 Marilyn Dumont Liquid Prairie 403 Anne Simpson Deer on a Beach 405 Diana Brebner from "The Sparrow Drawer" 407 Julie Bruck Notice to Cut Tree 408 Harold Rhenisch Hymn for Herbicide 410 Harold Rhenisch The Hidden One 411 Elise Partridge Plague 413 Laura Lush Winter 414 Russell Thornton Creek Trout 415 Russell Thornton Heron 416 Eric Cole Blackpoll Warbler 417 Ken Howe Notes on the Urban Squirrel 419 Bruce Taylor Stovewood 421 Eric Miller Song of the Vulgar Starling 424 Elizabeth Philips Tales from the Green Revolution 425 Joseph A. Dandurand Feeding the Hungry 427 SiieGoyette Vigil 429 Tim Bowling On the Disappearance of Two Million Sockeye Salmon 430 Tim Bowling Late August at the Mouth of the Fraser River 431 Michael Crummey Cod (1) 432 Michael Crummey Cod (2) 433 Michael Redhill True Story 434 Barbara Klar Blue Gramma 435 Barbara Nickel Athabasca Falls, 8:40 a.m. 436 Karen Solie Sturgeon 437. Karen Solie Pastoral 438 Randy Lundy The Great Sand Hills 439 Karen Connelly The Moment 442 Alison Calder The Animals Dream

xn CONTENTS 443 Stephanie Bolster Many Have Written Poems about Blackberries 444 Rachel Rose Raccoons in Garbage 445 Ken Babstock To Lichen 446 Ken Babstock Bear 10 448 Philip Kevin Paul CIAA

459 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON THE AUTHORS

485 COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

495 AUTHOR AND TITLE INDEX

501 SUBJECT INDEX, OR THE ALTERNATE GUIDE

CONTENTS xiu