Canadian Champagne
Night was no longer Canadian Champagne
Derelict mourners inhaled for free
In hospitality suites of under-founded hospitals
—Courtesy of that American saint,
Floppy shoes and wide open smile.
Give me the austerity
Of your Oriental Christians,
Double Lent and Advent;
Not the posh rooms donated
By that liberal clown.
Funerals collapse into each other;
It is the density of absence
That hurts the most.
Think of Callaghan and Frye,
We were posing for a picture:
Clown nose, a little rouge
On the wrinkled cheeks.
The next thing I knew
I was writing alone
And Li Po never answered.
© 2004 Alexandre L. Amprimoz
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