WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.840 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:04.380 align:middle line:84% OK, now to my situation, I've just two months ago 00:00:04.380 --> 00:00:09.330 align:middle line:84% moved into Alberta and I'm about an hour and a half drive 00:00:09.330 --> 00:00:13.920 align:middle line:84% from the Rocky Mountains and I have quite a thing 00:00:13.920 --> 00:00:15.750 align:middle line:90% about mountains. 00:00:15.750 --> 00:00:19.800 align:middle line:84% And about two weeks ago in Canadian Thanksgiving, 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:24.390 align:middle line:84% I went up to Banff and sat on top of a mountain 00:00:24.390 --> 00:00:30.930 align:middle line:84% there called Mount Norquay and this poem is about my sitting 00:00:30.930 --> 00:00:31.815 align:middle line:90% on Mount Norquay. 00:00:31.815 --> 00:00:36.920 align:middle line:90% 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:40.250 align:middle line:84% "Dry grass pressed flat and sheep turds 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:44.210 align:middle line:84% under the eye, the wild ski slope over Banff. 00:00:44.210 --> 00:00:49.250 align:middle line:84% One wild strawberry among blossoms this odd October. 00:00:49.250 --> 00:00:53.720 align:middle line:84% A lonely grasshopper on immense hill in the distance 00:00:53.720 --> 00:00:57.110 align:middle line:84% downward smoke filled glacier valleys mountains 00:00:57.110 --> 00:01:00.440 align:middle line:90% one time push back. 00:01:00.440 --> 00:01:02.420 align:middle line:84% I am standing under the chairlift. 00:01:02.420 --> 00:01:07.790 align:middle line:84% Empty seats dangle over me, never stopping rising uphill. 00:01:07.790 --> 00:01:09.680 align:middle line:90% I look up. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:13.460 align:middle line:84% Clouds rise from behind a mountain meeting the chairs 00:01:13.460 --> 00:01:16.290 align:middle line:90% flying over them. 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:20.780 align:middle line:84% If I look at the sky, I'll fall backward down the hill. 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:24.980 align:middle line:84% Trail under chairlift cable steep hard on legs, my head 00:01:24.980 --> 00:01:26.120 align:middle line:90% down to climb. 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.660 align:middle line:84% I see coke bottles, cigarette packages, peanut bags, 00:01:29.660 --> 00:01:31.970 align:middle line:90% film cartons. 00:01:31.970 --> 00:01:37.310 align:middle line:84% I sit on stump and look down slush to a ski cafe imaging 00:01:37.310 --> 00:01:39.800 align:middle line:84% bush workers building the chairlift axis 00:01:39.800 --> 00:01:42.540 align:middle line:84% cable, steel stanchions on steep slope. 00:01:42.540 --> 00:01:47.090 align:middle line:84% Another job in the Bush down below. 00:01:47.090 --> 00:01:50.120 align:middle line:84% Someone in white hat cutting celebration ribbon, 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:54.050 align:middle line:90% his first visit to Norquay. 00:01:54.050 --> 00:01:57.230 align:middle line:84% Berry bushes here for centuries, unhappy people 00:01:57.230 --> 00:01:58.970 align:middle line:90% at foot of mountain. 00:01:58.970 --> 00:02:02.570 align:middle line:90% Each chair has its own groan. 00:02:02.570 --> 00:02:06.320 align:middle line:84% I lower my head. 'Climb one peanut shell each 20 feet.' 00:02:06.320 --> 00:02:09.380 align:middle line:84% Said people sitting down climbing the Rockies. 00:02:09.380 --> 00:02:12.410 align:middle line:90% One player's cigarette unlit. 00:02:12.410 --> 00:02:16.280 align:middle line:84% I put it at base abstention, one cigar in plastic holder, 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:18.590 align:middle line:84% one bottle opener, candy bar wrappers 00:02:18.590 --> 00:02:20.120 align:middle line:90% I've never seen before. 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:21.680 align:middle line:90% Sheet of paper. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:24.680 align:middle line:84% Your picture has just been taken. 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:28.070 align:middle line:84% One Black American penny dreams of lost wallets. 00:02:28.070 --> 00:02:30.440 align:middle line:90% A letter on green paper. 00:02:30.440 --> 00:02:31.580 align:middle line:90% 'Dear Dana. 00:02:31.580 --> 00:02:32.180 align:middle line:90% Hi. 00:02:32.180 --> 00:02:33.080 align:middle line:90% Guess where I am. 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:35.570 align:middle line:84% I'm on the ski lift going up mountain Norquay at Banff. 00:02:35.570 --> 00:02:37.280 align:middle line:84% It's a one half hour trip and no one 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:39.860 align:middle line:84% wanted to come with me so seeing as I have a pen and paper I 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:41.090 align:middle line:90% thought I'd drop you a line. 00:02:41.090 --> 00:02:42.770 align:middle line:90% We're having a ball in Calgary. 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:44.750 align:middle line:84% I'm going out with two guys, Mike [INDISTINCT] 00:02:44.750 --> 00:02:46.880 align:middle line:84% he's an engineer-- and Ron Robinson. 00:02:46.880 --> 00:02:48.590 align:middle line:84% Wow, I really think Ron is short, 00:02:48.590 --> 00:02:50.400 align:middle line:84% but men you can't tie anyone down. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:54.680 align:middle line:84% He's about 5'10" really short built.' 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:57.590 align:middle line:84% I leave the trail, sit on stump stare 00:02:57.590 --> 00:03:01.160 align:middle line:84% into eyes of old Rocky Mountain sheep. 00:03:01.160 --> 00:03:02.150 align:middle line:90% He is the leader. 00:03:02.150 --> 00:03:05.780 align:middle line:84% I wave my hand, he wiggles his ear. 00:03:05.780 --> 00:03:09.690 align:middle line:84% Down the slope, 50 sheep with lambs follow him. 00:03:09.690 --> 00:03:11.630 align:middle line:90% I stand there, talk to them. 00:03:11.630 --> 00:03:14.270 align:middle line:90% They look at me and eat grass. 00:03:14.270 --> 00:03:17.930 align:middle line:84% Their horns sloping behind their heads. 00:03:17.930 --> 00:03:21.770 align:middle line:84% The mountain cools and the sheep lie down. 00:03:21.770 --> 00:03:24.830 align:middle line:84% I wave at old leader and run down the slope. 00:03:24.830 --> 00:03:27.650 align:middle line:90% Imagine, I open the door. 00:03:27.650 --> 00:03:30.320 align:middle line:84% There is a dark washroom, urinals 00:03:30.320 --> 00:03:33.170 align:middle line:90% smell of braxle above sinks. 00:03:33.170 --> 00:03:39.160 align:middle line:84% Cigarette on the floor and those strange candy bar wrappers."