Al from Belleville, or thereabouts

Doug Blair 1951 (London)



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

In Hastings.

Noting reforestation

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.

Cigarette hanging

As if ready to detonate something

Of value and

Exceptional history.



Turn from hominids

To other mammals.

Al’s favourites since

Before puberty.

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

Boxcar pervert.

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

Muggy promises.

Mexico and hot mayhem.

And panhandling, full culture.

Leningrad with all those

Stressed faces.

Churches in mothballs.

Can’t keep Al* quiet.

Typewriter always clacking.

Poesie.

Provocative.

Purdy.

About this poem

Al Purdy is a Canadian poet of stellar proportions. Refreshing and manly. Wanderer.

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Written on February 16, 2023

Submitted by dougb.21370 on February 16, 2023

Modified by dougb.21370 on February 16, 2023

1:28 min read
9

Quick analysis:

Scheme X A B C X D X E X E F X D B X G B X B E A D H X X X X E X D F C E X X X H H G I X X I X X X C
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,382
Words 296
Stanzas 47
Stanza Lengths 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Doug Blair

Doug was once a lawyer. Frustrated. Went broke 1987. Turned to manufacturing. People talked straight. Worked hard. Listened when appropriate. Lead Hand Shipper and Workplace Safety. Married to Hilary 1974. Two kids Lauren and Jordan. Poet. Photographer. Hiker-photographer. Harmonica busker. http://puffnchord7.blogspot.com/ more…

All Doug Blair poems | Doug Blair Books

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