for Gwen

I start with the bamboo and the grace
that is a fern unfolding into spring. One is sword,
the other emperor. Both have found their place
in this garden. I can't imagine you here,
could wish you, but that is only dream.
I wish too much sometimes.
We could sit by the pond, each with a bottle
and a favourite glass, and share
our poems. If we sat there long enough
the bamboo would grow among us and the fern
would cover our flesh. Right now two swans
are flying above me, crying. They recede. It is spring
here. I know the poems hurt you into words.
They hurt me too. But today in the garden
the tree frog sings the same old song
under the fern, under the old bamboo.
In the desert you loved the sand remembered
the songs that were there before them.
I promise. I will send you a poem soon.

Patrick Lane has published thirteen volumes of poetry over the past thirty years. Patrick’s many awards include the Governor General’s Award for Poetry (1979) and the Canadian Authors’ Association Award for Poetry (1988). He has received recognition from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Saskatchewan Arts Board and the Manitoba Arts Board. He co-wrote (with Lorna Crozier) the Nellie Award-winning radio script Chile. He has also received two National Magazine Awards. Patrick is a member of ACTRA, the Writers’ Union of Canada, the League of Canadian Poets and the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild.

Patrick Lane