Firda and I were talking about poems in emails earlier today. This got me to thinking about my favorite poems. For me I like a poem if it causes a emotional reaction, be it sadness, happiness or one of the other myriad of emotions available. The following poem is one of those poems that is kind of humorous in a satrical way. The poem The Only Tourist In Havana Turns His Thoughts Homeward is one of my favorite poems, not really because of the writing itself but because it is memorable to me. The author of this lovely peice is Leonard Cohen, a Canadian poet, musician and all around artist. With no further ado I present the poem:
The Only Tourist in Havana Turns His Thoughts Homeward
Come, my brothers,
let us govern Canada,
let us find our serious heads,
let us dump asbestos on the White House,
let us make the French talk English,
let us torture the Senate individually
let us purge the New Party,
let us encourage the dark races
let us make the CBC talk English,
let us all lean in one direction
let us have tourism,
let us flirt with the enemy,
let us smelt pig-iron in our back yards,
let us sell snow
(It is true one of our national leaders
was a Roman Catholic?)
let us terrorize Alaska,
let us unite
let us not take it lying down,
let us have two Governor Generals
let us have another official language,
let us determine what it will be,
let us give a Canada Council Fellowship
let us teach sex in the home
let us threaten to join the U.S.A.
my brothers, come,
our serious heads are waiting for us somewhere
2 Comments
If I were Canadian, I think I’d like the poem as well 🙂
I was just looking through GOB for other Ontarians(?) and found my way here. I really do like that poem 🙂 Take care.