Crow
County
For
artist Leonard Jubenville, on the occasion of his Art Avenue exhibit, “Infinite
Skies”, Toronto (April 29, 2016)
Infinite skies of quicksilver
wash the canvas in soapy waves of
white, sharp rods of
steel erupting from an
unsettled time and
field
where we come home
to roost.
Trees meet in full coverage
over acres of uninterrupted
russet, yet
being Dover-bred, we prefer
the crafty solitude of an
ancient, barren ash tree,
or snow fence gone
astray.
Our stake in this
landscape is steadfast.
Faithful as le vieux pays,
for 20 million years we have
watched rows of gladiolus, conifer
and corn reach and recede
alongside the frozen waters
of the Erie-Thames.
We are a mob family, communing
together to raise our young,
chasing dark predators from
our lands,
and roaming fertile Hudson River
tributaries, testing new life.
A sunflower on a window ledge
may be contained in the ordered
domesticity of the house, but as
the window opens and the curtains
blow free, its wily, windy
core extends to escape.
