I see myself as a child,
Still eager to learn but loath to accept
What passes for reason.

I see my fellow man
As a creature of infinite grace,
Bound by natural law to create
Yet controlled by his own creations.

I see the wild beast of the forest
As nature's offspring,
Surrounded by mysterious beauty,
Seeking comfort at the breast
Of mother earth,
Violent yet innocent,
Living upon the remains of the weaker animals
Which he has stalked and killed.

I see the poet as a word prophet,
A dealer in songs and phrases
Of wistful melodies and subtle warnings,
Passing his nights in loneliness,
Tormented by blank pages
Which cry out with dying breath
To be filled with the
Secrets of his heart

I see him standing thin and ragged
In the doorway of his emporium,
Facing east across the busy marketplace
Past the teeming crowds
Across the blazing continent
To the mountains beyond,
To where the morning sun
Shoots arrows of energy
At the hollows of his sleepless eyes.

I see him walking
Quietly unnoticed
Through the ghettos of our cities,
Across the rolling countryside,
Beside the swollen rivers of springtime,
Along train-tracks and highways.

I see him taking his rest
At truckstops and sleezy hotels,
In worksheds and warehouses,
Loading-docks and shipyards,
And cabins upon mountainsides.

I watch him plunge headlong
Into a river turned red
With the blood of slain armies
Beside battlefields where
Pride outweighed the value of life itself.

I see him walking naked
Through busy uptown streets
Filled with people at Christmas time,
A sign about his neck
Upon which he has pasted
In bold type for all to see,
His life's work and epic poem
Conceived by his longing and
Filled with the prescription of humanity,
Which the busy crowds ignore
As the wind ignores the trees,

The one word

Please.

Gordon Lightfoot (1968)

[A thousand thanks to Robert Bayles for his 2004 transcription of this poem, from the back side of the cover from Gordon Lightfoot's "Back Here on Earth" lp, sent to me originally by Susan Haylett from Toronto shortly after the lp's release.]