Once near Parry Sound, I shingled
the cedar roof of a mansion miles
outside the white Ojibway club.
There were masks that cost
a mint, mangled loose by
tarps torn.
Trip back from town
with copper in the skiff
I gunned it close to earth.
Something told me fire
burns angry on water.
Those masks were worn
water-leaked smiles
said Canada has much
to answer.
I would not have opened
her up for shield
rudimentary.
This poem “Elements of Northern Ontario” originally appeared in Emerging Scholars. Spec. issue of Canadian Literature 226 (Autumn 2015): 16.
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