AL
AL PURDY’S CAGE
did you know they’ve corralled Al Purdy now?
at Queen’s Park park he’s in an enclosure
a giant black granite poet girthy Al + all the
leaves Euthrie unconsolable + in a hell hath no
fury fury
like a woman left for her best friend who Al Purdy
married impregnated +dumped for Euthrie! who
also had his son
he’s being kept in a cage post assisted riddled
with cancer death so that his ghost cannot break
another heart except mine with his words so
Canadian sublime:
Oh beautiful as an angel’s ass No, I do not love you
each time i return to his stanzas chills rush up my spine
and a fever burns when thoughts turn to sharing a log cabin
with Al sometime
he of the thick lumberjack fingers +deep baritone
wide lapped +bad to the bone
__
Married Man’s Song (Al Purdy 1970)
she stands above him as a stone goddess
weeping tears and honey
she is half his age and far older
and how can a man tell his wife this?
In rare cases among the legions of married men
such moments of shining never happened
and whether to praise such men for their steadfast virtue
or condemn them as fools for living without magic
answer can hardly be given
__
Fall 2018 ..RIP Al.. born 1918 – assisted death 2000
i am a sucker for
girth +guys named Al
songanddancegirl 