AND THE ASSIGNMENT IS: write a poem incorporating, or based on, one or more of your answers to the following “Almanac Questionnaire.”
WEATHER: JANUARY SNOW | FOUND ON STREET: CIGARETTE BUTTS
ARCHITECTURE: ART GALLERY OF ALBERTA | EXPORT: ALBERTA BEEF
CUSTOMS:
TODAY’S NEWS HEADLINE:
LOVER:
MAMMAL/REPTILE/FISH: CARIBOU | FLORA: WILD ROSE
DRESS: COCKTAIL DRESS | MYTHICAL ANIMAL: UNICORN
CHILDHOOD DREAM: JET FIGHTER PILOT | CONSPIRACY: AVRO ARROW
GRAFFITI: I’M SORRY | HOMETOWN MEMORY: CITY OF CHAMPIONS
WALK TO THE BORDER AND HEAR: “PASSPORT PLEASE!”
NOTABLE PERSON: MARY (LA BOLDUC) TRAVERS, singer/songwriter
OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW, YOU FIND: PARKED VEHICLES
SCRAP FROM A LETTER: AN AFFAIR WITH THE MILKMAN 75 YEARS AGO
STORY READ TO CHILDREN AT NIGHT: ALLIGATOR PIE
3MIN WALK DOWN AN ALLEY, YOU FIND: A DEAD-END
IMAGE ON PICTURE POSTCARD: CASCADING FOUNTAINS OF THE LEGISLATURE
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My take on this challenge is a little more taxing; writing to include as many as possible
T’was a weathered picture postcard of cascading water fountains;
Of the Alberta Legislature, against the massive Rocky Mountains,
All the foreground was adorned by the provincial roses wild;
And in a shaky hand, a note was left inside:
“In the City of Champions, 75 years ago;
“An affair with the milkman in a January snow
“Storm, in a parked milk truck down a dead-end street;
“Mary Travers was on the radio singing something French so sweet.
“’bout an Avro Arrow pilot flying o’er the gallery —
“Of Canadian Modern Art; skywriting “I’m sorry,”
“As a unicorn in a cocktail dress sings “Alligator pie”
“To a caribou on the street looking at the sky,
“Sitting in a pile of cigarette butts, crying he wished to be
“Exported like Alberta Beef — the world he then could see!”
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