Hi Chris
Happy Fall. Been trying to jump back on the horse with some new work. My mind seems to be throwing darts at different genres or style. Below are 3 that seem to be more in the classic sense of where my mind goes....The other stuff.....not sure yet.
Hope yer ready for Winter - we certainly are not up here........
Thomson Lore via 11-66-Ragged Ass
He’s almost a displaced Yukon ghost
McGee and McGrew lore
resting on an island by fire light
but not in the ground where people say.
Cover the earth before the earth Covers you
He’s almost a Robert Johnson
starts out cringeworthy
returns as the star of the genre
where did he go? What was promised to the devil?
Put it in the Glass – not the toe – not the past – Put it in the glass
As the sun sets over the Gateway
Algonquin is lower down
the Yukon is further around
and the South
is not the South below the fold of
Ontario.
Before the Earth covers you – mythology is already tapping you on the shoulder
I hear the lapping of the water on smooth rolled out stone
stretched out here while you sit across and neither smile nor scowl
until I hear you – this is where I stay
and those in heaven or still above – wonder where I went…..
Martin Durkin
Tom Thomson tying a lure in Algonquin Park
from Wikipedia
*Thomson lore: Tom Thomson was part of the Group of Seven a legendary group of Canadian painters. When Thomson first started out it was said his work was very poor. His work is now legendary. Upon his death or murder(?) His body was guarded by a group of men until it was transported off a small island in Algonquin Park. It is unknown where is body is actually buried.
*McGee and McGrew: Famous poem by Robert Service called ‘Cremation of Sam McGee’. Set in the Yukon
*Robert Johnson: Famous blues guitarist. His playing was noted as cringeworthy. Johnson disappeared and came back months later and became regarded as the greatest blues guitarist of all time. It was rumoured he sold his soul to the devil on route 66. In actuality he met up with another guitarist and received lessons…..possibly inside a graveyard where they would not be disturbed.
*11-66-Ragged Ass: Hwy 11 famous Ontario hwy which takes you to Alonguin Park via North Bay – the Gateway to the North. Route 66 – the hwy where legend says Johnson sold his soul to the devil. Ragged Ass Road – famous road in the North West Territories
*Below the fold: Paper maps generally show all of Southern Ontario on one full side you need to fold the paper map down to see the rest of Northern Ontario on the opposite side. It is generally believed that North of Toronto nothing of interest occurs ‘below the fold’.
*Not the Toe: In a bar in the Yukon there is a cocktail which has a toe in the bottom of the glass. Visitors are encouraged to drink the cocktail without swallowing the toe. The toe has its own story.
~ ~ ~ ~
Hi Martin,
On this election day, when all of Canada seems engaged in a huge squabble, your Tom Thomson poem brightened my morning : )
I'll try to send a longer email later, but I felt I had to immediately post your poem. Now I'm going for a long walk to further clear my head before voting (Green).
Hope it's OK to post this?
http://riffsandripplesfromzenrivergardens.blogspot.com/
Haven't even read the other 2 poems yet.
peace & poetry power!
Chris
Happy Fall. Been trying to jump back on the horse with some new work. My mind seems to be throwing darts at different genres or style. Below are 3 that seem to be more in the classic sense of where my mind goes....The other stuff.....not sure yet.
Hope yer ready for Winter - we certainly are not up here........
Thomson Lore via 11-66-Ragged Ass
He’s almost a displaced Yukon ghost
McGee and McGrew lore
resting on an island by fire light
but not in the ground where people say.
Cover the earth before the earth Covers you
He’s almost a Robert Johnson
starts out cringeworthy
returns as the star of the genre
where did he go? What was promised to the devil?
Put it in the Glass – not the toe – not the past – Put it in the glass
As the sun sets over the Gateway
Algonquin is lower down
the Yukon is further around
and the South
is not the South below the fold of
Ontario.
Before the Earth covers you – mythology is already tapping you on the shoulder
I hear the lapping of the water on smooth rolled out stone
stretched out here while you sit across and neither smile nor scowl
until I hear you – this is where I stay
and those in heaven or still above – wonder where I went…..
Martin Durkin
Tom Thomson tying a lure in Algonquin Park
from Wikipedia
*Thomson lore: Tom Thomson was part of the Group of Seven a legendary group of Canadian painters. When Thomson first started out it was said his work was very poor. His work is now legendary. Upon his death or murder(?) His body was guarded by a group of men until it was transported off a small island in Algonquin Park. It is unknown where is body is actually buried.
*McGee and McGrew: Famous poem by Robert Service called ‘Cremation of Sam McGee’. Set in the Yukon
*Robert Johnson: Famous blues guitarist. His playing was noted as cringeworthy. Johnson disappeared and came back months later and became regarded as the greatest blues guitarist of all time. It was rumoured he sold his soul to the devil on route 66. In actuality he met up with another guitarist and received lessons…..possibly inside a graveyard where they would not be disturbed.
*11-66-Ragged Ass: Hwy 11 famous Ontario hwy which takes you to Alonguin Park via North Bay – the Gateway to the North. Route 66 – the hwy where legend says Johnson sold his soul to the devil. Ragged Ass Road – famous road in the North West Territories
*Below the fold: Paper maps generally show all of Southern Ontario on one full side you need to fold the paper map down to see the rest of Northern Ontario on the opposite side. It is generally believed that North of Toronto nothing of interest occurs ‘below the fold’.
*Not the Toe: In a bar in the Yukon there is a cocktail which has a toe in the bottom of the glass. Visitors are encouraged to drink the cocktail without swallowing the toe. The toe has its own story.
~ ~ ~ ~
Hi Martin,
On this election day, when all of Canada seems engaged in a huge squabble, your Tom Thomson poem brightened my morning : )
I'll try to send a longer email later, but I felt I had to immediately post your poem. Now I'm going for a long walk to further clear my head before voting (Green).
Hope it's OK to post this?
http://riffsandripplesfromzenrivergardens.blogspot.com/
Haven't even read the other 2 poems yet.
peace & poetry power!
Chris
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