Vancouver Writing: Al Purdy
MOUNTAIN LIONS IN STANLEY PARK
Canadian as the Winnipeg Gold-Eye or
the Calgary Eye-Opener and
regional in this province as Strontium 90 and
international as a boundary they
live here before night's fuses were blown -
Remember the child?
He thought darkness had a nucleus
something plotting
outside his range of vision something
that moved and shambled
laughed without logic
and drooled -
It's rather a comfort now
to see the caged cougar's
fierce eyes focused
serious
(non-idiotic) and
to be involved in the cougar's simple problems
(the snap of a bone in the head exchanging
light for darkness)
and walking to the edge of this floodlit concrete
not stopping at all
on the edge of the great trees -
Running
where the wild tribes go
beyond boundaries
and desolate cities
naked hairless lost one
and sin-bright cougar
into the forest
toward our dark beginnings
Vancouver
- Beyond Remembering: The collected poems of Al Purdy
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