I was sad to hear the news that brilliant and prolific Canadian poet, Patrick Lane passed away this morning, just shy of his 80th birthday. I was absolutely blessed to have an opportunity to study with Patrick at the Honeymoon Bay Poetry Retreat in 2017. Such powerful mentorship from a man who had astonishing poetic insight. What a loss to the Canadian literary community.
Just yesterday after spotting the first robin of the year, I was telling a student about my time at the retreat, lying on the ground trying to hear the worms the robin heard.
When Liz McNalley, organizer of the retreat, sent word this morning, she included this poem of Patrick’s and so I will share it with you, as well.
The Beauty
This too, the beauty
Of the antelope in snow
Is it enough to say we will
Imagine this and nothing more?
Who understands that, failing
Falters at the song.
But still we sing.
That is beauty.
But it is not an answer
Any more than the antelope
Most slender of beasts
Most beautiful
Will tell us why they go
Going nowhere
And going there
Perfectly in the snow.
It was a snowy day today. Rest in Peace, Patrick. Much love to Lorna Crozier and all those grieving our nation’s loss today.
PS. If you don’t already have a copy of The Collected Works of Patrick Lane, I highly recommend it. It is full of treasures.
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(Note that I’m an Amazon Affiliate, so if you buy from that link, I earn a bit for the referral)
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