Dr. H.N. McLeod

Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

I was born in Wolseley, Saskatchewan, Canada. I lived in the Prairie provinces and British Columbia as a boy. B.A. (Hon's) University of B.C., M.A. University of Toronto; Ph.D. University of London (Eng.) Employed as a Clinical Psychologist in several hospitals in Canada and the U.K. and as a Professor of Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan and Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario. Presently a Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Lakehead University.

The Robin

I asked the Robin where he'd spent the winter?
He said, he'd been in Kentucky.
I said, "Where is Kentucky?"
He said, "Its in the deep south."
I asked him, "What is it like there?"
He said, "Its beautiful."
There is tall grass that has a blue colour.
And, there are beautiful women
who go every year to the races and wear the most beautiful
gowns of white and yellow.
And, there are horses, tawny horses of burnished brown
which are graceful and proud.
I asked him, "Why he chose Kentucky?"
He said, "Its where I was born
and therefore its my home."

The Grail

The street looked the same
more dusty perhaps, the buildings older
The gas station more elaborate.
The people were different
Where had the others gone?
To many places, to Valhalla, to the city.

There was a voice which asked
"Who are you and where have you been"?
I said, "I'd been seeking the grail,
I thought I'd found it at Lake Katepwa
but a muskrat had taken it
and told his fellows that it must be hidden
under the ice in the deep mud by the rushes
so that it would be safe from the ravages of the cold
and the wind and the hot sun".

I asked, "Would it ever be found
and by whom"?
The voice said, "By a young man
with blonde hair and pale blue eyes
who comes from the north country
and has talked with angels
and they have told him where it is".

I asked, "When will this be"?
The voice said, "When the sky is
deep red and there is a deep hush
and the soft music of mandolins
is heard and the land is ready".