"A Lament for Education and Academic Freedom"


I was the mainstream -
a rich running river of life
once flowing forcibly, natural
determined, etching malleable landscapes,
now drowned in dust.

Animals grazed harmoniously and prospered over my lush leaning banks,
I sparkled pure, crystal, white,
while others flourished beneath my mirrored still
and ferocious foam

I fed streams, tiniest tributaries, bogs
teeming with living, amidst teasing twists, cryptic mists and fogs
what was given was as well too me given back
forging canyons from fragments and finger-like cracks

my silt settled, evolved into stone,
my purpose was my purpose, with all and nothing to be known

I once built wonders that made wonder grow
my currents, respected, their tempo and flow
but the respect now evaporates
in billows of dust,
leaving me dry upon a tegument sedimentary saline crust
for I was the mainstream,
but now am no more
a forgotten scar upon the planet's floor.

Edmonton, AB., Canada