Trans-Canada Haiku

(Please note: unedited haiku trove)





Ravens circulate
snow abounds on the craggy ridge
reindeer in pens






Pacific Northwest

Endless matchstick trees
this land is made out of wood
on silty rivers





Snowy evergreens
ravens rule a secret realm
elf folk in the rocks





After a tunnel
an eagle rides the updraft
a higher region





Sky train at dusk
stadium fills with liquid
melancholy light





In the spirit world
a wall of masks floats downstream
totem poles pile up





Vancouver in fog
aboard maritime buildings
a steam-powered clock





Mount Robson

Dawn’s silent giant
the train holds on for life
on the cosmic earth





Small herd of elk waits
in a dim grove of pine trees
no one else sees them





The world falls away
only railroad tracks remain
climbing ever on





Exposure-ville

Big woolly sheep graze
like white clouds on the ridge top
no town to walk to





A liminal point
when the train leaves the mountains
and enters the clouds





Edmonton

Hologram city
seen across a landing strip
an indoor ocean





Saskatoon

Sleepy train station
sweet water fountain, a smoke
no one notices





White sky snow-packed earth
a train-stop in Winnipeg
bomb scare in progress





The three little boys
with dad and first-nation mom
fly home from the train





Sioux Lookout

Blue-gray waterways
dreamlike through the deep green trees
meteor craters





Someone says two moose
engineer radioed back
young boy sees them first





The boy points to it
and I see the moose at last
flicker in the trees





Back of moose country
a sign says Bob’s Hunting Lodge
shack barely standing





Nocturnal train stops
in faraway Canada
Winter’s hinterland





Thanksgiving

The birds of winter
perch on a low cable
outside of the wind





Gingerly the cat
explores the hotel garden
now blossoming snow





Yorkville

Rocky mountain oils
in the gingerbread gallery
my tracks in the snow





Horseback statue hill
Queen’s Park robed in white sable
old world not quite real





Leaving Toronto

The gleaming city
where I slept over last night
seen for the first time





In windows of a
cafe on Sainte Catherine
ghost of a poet





A book-of-hours sky
frames the city’s old quarter
buoyant in the cold air





Animal figures
on snowy storefront sidewalks
magic sympathy





In vieux Notre Dame
a double harpsichord fugue
wooden ships in mid-air





Aqueous stained glass
prayer beads in remote churches
a pilgrim's progress






A maze of ice pools
surrounds the palace of ice
eerie alone there





Champs-de-Mer

Down from the old town
this terrace to the next train
no one knows I’m here





High rise ornaments
Christmas on other planets
the wreath of doom



Rue Stanley

Snow in gusty bursts
manor room on mount royale
my roman a clef






Nearing Lake Champlain
forest stands in floodwater
lake long as daylight