Ian was going to visit me, and I was going to visit him. We both had occasion to visit a pub in Wakefield, and Ian had played there on occasion.

We exchanged ideas and observations often.

I see the last thing he wrote me was:

That he was going to visit a friend here and we would get together and help this friend with Powertracks. And I was going to Ottawa and we'd maybe take the steam train to Wakefield.

There's no dates on the PM's in the forums, that surprised me. It seemed like only a few weeks back. I see he said his meds ran over 3k a month like mine.

_____________________________________________
for Ian

blue above and blue below
your old canoe glides softly
the mist of golden morn rises, swirls
the sun on each silver drop
from your now still paddle shines
and where the distant loon calls
sensing your spirits winding...
Blue above and Blue below.

then as the "sudden seven ducks"*1
splashed in the Lievere, bluer,
just up ahead.

John
_____________________________________________________________
"There is a beauty at the goal of life,
A beauty growing since the world began,
Through every age and race, through lapse and strife
Till the great human soul complete her span.
Beneath the waves of storm that lash and burn,
The currents of blind passion that appall,
To listen and keep watch till we discern
The tide of sovereign truth that guides it all;
So to address our spirits to the height,
And so attune them to the valiant whole,
That the great light be clearer for our light,
And the great soul the stronger for our soul:
To have done this is to have lived, though fame
Remember us with no familiar name."*2

1, 2 Archibald Lampman, canadian poet



John

John Conley
Musica est vita