From A Generous Latitude. Published by ECW Press in 2018.

“Shed no tears!” —Stan Rogers
He favoured turtlenecks
and his baldness lent him years
decanted through song,
the sediments of working men
and women, floating
through such shanties made
modern—the plaid fists
pounding on pine
in Maritime kitchens—
the lace and rye-
soaked beards of 1983
are back in fashion.
Halifax, you and I
will not forget.
We could cry the harbour,
float the Citadel,
but why disturb the captain
while he slumbers heavy in the tape deck.