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peninsula ethos

Literary Supplement

because I have to believe in orchids and dolomite, the way
you have to believe in waking up, in Euclid;
otherwise,
what have I got
to stand on

because I believe in small treasures:
mittens, acorns, rubber boots

in larger ones:
peregrine falcons, universities, the Georgian Bay

it’s not always the most obvious thing,

how we grew up inside these familiar stories,

the comfort of them, believing

in public libraries and travel mugs,
in wisdom, educated and otherwise

in otherwise

in canvas bags and the CBC,
in houseplants, and clarity, and the geese
staying longer each year

in the idea that, somehow, everything matters

because, somehow, it’s got something to do with

those bow-legged white cedars

they’ve been here a thousand years

they’re not sorry