Al Purdy – Concerning Ms. Atwood
There is Margaret Atwood
—she is meeting Premier Peterson
in the Ontario Legislative Buildings
he is congratulating her
for being Margaret Atwood.
There is Margaret Atwood
—she is swinging a champagne bottle
against the bow of a super icebreaker
It winces noticeably from the blow
and escapes into the water
muttering
“My name is Henry Larson”
There is Margaret Atwood
—she is accepting the Nobel Prize
and reporters are crowding around
with tears in their eyes
asking why she is so marvellous
and replies simply and modestly
“I am Margaret Atwood”
There is Margaret Atwood
—sitting in an unmanned spaceship
waiting for blast-off her lovely
eyes slightly dilated from a sleeping
drug administered by flight surgeons
She awakes at the edge of the universe
where someone says “Hello
Pleased to meet you Ms. Atwood
My name is God” She smiles
and writes the name down promptly
in her little notebook to prevent
forgetfulness
There is Margaret Atwood
—at the edge of the universe
speaking to the First Cause at last
he is slightly ill-at-ease and says
“Did you have a nice trip?”
“Reasonably so—I’m glad to see
there are no autograph hunters around
(he had been about to ask for hers)
But where do we go from here?”
Beyond the solemn hinterlands of nothingness
beyond the last lonesome uninhabited galaxy
(“There are rooms for rent in the outer planets”
Travel Brochure)
with the calm green meadowlands of heaven
being interviewed by neutered blessed seraphim
concerning the relative importance of YIN and yang
—there is Margaret Atwood.
112:1 pg.22 (1988)