Quadra Island in Retrospect

"You wait too long, you never know, eh?"

Stuck again in chagrin,

We negotiate now, too late,
For a place to replace

Longing with strong liquor--
Fantasy, memory, hunger,
Tall, dark-needled cedars

By the water. Daughter
In the back seat, compressing flat
Fruit strips in her fingers,

Talks to a thrush, enthralled
That she can see what she can hear, here.
"Hello. Oh! He helloed!

I like the way he sings.
We like the way you play!
Papa, let's stay today."