The Prospect Behind Us

for Susan Glickman

Original Text

S. P. Zitner, The Hunt on the Lagoon (Fredericton, N.B.: Goose Lane, 2005): 93.

1There are more poets per capita in Canada than in any other country,

2including the countries that have not yet developed prose,

3and there are more Canadian poets than Canadians who read them.

4Perhaps the Canada Council should offer grants for aspiring readers,

5though grant applications themselves have inspired poetic expression.

6There may be no remedy. The muchness of poets in Canada

7Is in the nature of the country, this land of hard-won anonymity,

8where praise is a leading export. Canadians venture into verse

9as they venture into the bush, heavily laden, prepared for the worst--

10to be stung or bitten, or not to be heard from again.

RPO poem Editors

Ian Lancashire

RPO Edition

2011

Rhyme

Form