Boyle McCauley News

Since 1979 • April-May 2024 • Circulation 5000

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where i came from

down in central Alberta a knot of blood kin buzzes
around oil patch and rodeo
nesting firm against fenceposts and convention; my mother
escaped that hive-mind
long ago: am I from there? my conventions
take place in foreign hotels.

a landscape’s vagaries branded on me
to the bone. a west wind
that overjoys with warmth, torments
with migraine: is this my home? I spend my time eager
in cities; the sky is the prairie’s only messenger.

came of age in tie-dye: now everyone’s dying, but some
faster than others. this is my real heritage.

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