Ode to Vancouver: A One-Year Anniversary

from May 9, 2013

I’m writing this with the only pencil I brought with me to my new place

in Marpole, in Vancouver

VANCOUVER!

been here a week

hardly had time to think, write, create

been doing all the other writing that makes money but doesn’t make soul

I’m in need of some soul time

and I just barfed

I think I’m eating too many greens

all this healthiness

all this aloneness

all this independence

again

what I wanted I guess

I still want it

I moved here for the place

but where are all the people?

Still get excited

to say my address to strangers

(like at the bank today)

to walk my neighbourhood

and find “Charlene Apartments”

It’s as if Marpole was calling my name

before I even knew it

I love sitting at my desk

in a stream of morning light

or else 8:00 at night, when the sun shines a spotlight on my hardwood floors

this place, with all its creaky age

is home—I knew it as soon as I saw it

from first look to set of keys—it happened fast, within a week

a dream building in me for years

the closest city to my roots

yet far enough to feel different

Here I am, Vancouver. HERE I AM!

What will you do with me?

What will I do with you?

You’ve had my heart for so long

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.