Ottawa marks 150
in a year-long festivity.
I see it in my morning paper.
Arriving from France,
La Machine is marching
a spider and a horse-dragon
in a battle-of-the-giants.
They spit fire by the National Gallery,
by the Chateau Laurier,
and by the War Museum.
Coming from Quebec City,
Red Bull constructs
400 metre of downhill course
above the Rideau Canal locks,
gearing for the finals
of Crashed Ice World Championship.
And from England
a royal couple
on Canada Day.
The next pages,
colourful ads capture my attention.
A 10-day tropical splendor
in the Southern Caribbean.
A 20-night package
featuring Rio, Santiago, and Buenos Aires.
Or two weeks
in Rome, Monte Carlo, and Barcelona.
A dilemma.
Traveling far away, or
staying to enjoy
our own local treasures.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)
