04-07-2026, 01:20 AM
Canada
The giants of the north knew what it meant
to let the good times roll. They plucked up pines
either to stack them high upon some mound
with rugs of moss for kindling, singing and dancing
around the conflagration, or to fling
boulders as pucks and balls that dredged up lakes
by skipping across the shield. When winter came,
they slid across the sea and sped down mountains
on sleds they built from logs of oak and walnut,
while for a springtime treat, they wrung out maples
directly over clay pots and boiled the sap
they gathered to make a syrup bright and sweet.
And when the bad times came---when flourished men
who traded fear for copper---still they shed
no bitter tears, they danced and gamed and fed
as if more good times waited past the end.
The giants of the north knew what it meant
to let the good times roll. They plucked up pines
either to stack them high upon some mound
with rugs of moss for kindling, singing and dancing
around the conflagration, or to fling
boulders as pucks and balls that dredged up lakes
by skipping across the shield. When winter came,
they slid across the sea and sped down mountains
on sleds they built from logs of oak and walnut,
while for a springtime treat, they wrung out maples
directly over clay pots and boiled the sap
they gathered to make a syrup bright and sweet.
And when the bad times came---when flourished men
who traded fear for copper---still they shed
no bitter tears, they danced and gamed and fed
as if more good times waited past the end.