When Souls Depart

A woman wands bubbles

Down the Spring Garden Road

An old man plays accordion

With a face like a toad

The Autumn air is warm

For this time of year

As I wander the streets

Of my Halifax dear

A stroll through faded blossoms

That in the Public Garden grow

My thoughts, as sit

At Robbie Burns’ toe,

Are wrapping my noggin

In nostalgia and grief

As I contemplate time,

That fucking old thief

My childhood spent

In this city so fair

My mother lies dying now

Hearts sunk in despair

Her’s can’t keep going

Mine, no more can take

The sun makes of pyre

Sat alone for her wake

The roads which I’ve rambled

And places I’ve seen

Will never rival

This place where I was weened

The flag shows the lion

That resides in my heart

And though I know I must leave soon

Like a soul must depart

Farewell to Nova Scotia

My lamenting refrain

As I know I may not

See this fair land again

Its ocean and valleys

And glacial till

Its water washed beaches

And Atlantic air chill

I am an orphan now,

With no true place my home

But I carry this place

Wherever I roam

Through fields of Heaven

And the hot winds of hell

I shall never forget this city

That I love so well