The Journey to Canada - Part Deux
An immigrant's story by Brian Sankarsingh
In the early 2000 I moved back to Trinidad to care for my elderly parents. That was when I realized just how much I had fallen in love with Canada. I have not met many immigrants who did not fall in love with this country. This poem is the immigrant who after some thirty years is looking back and understanding why Canada is such a bountiful land.
My Canada, with gorgeous city streets, lit up every night Happy people, saying “Sorry”, shine brighter than those lights It's Maple syrup, and Poutine, Beaver tails, and Butter tarts The kind of food that makes us rotund, but no, not ever fat Mon Canada a aussi des Timbits, des Bannocks et des Fiddleheads Si vous pensez que les Canadiens aiment nos aliments, je conviens que c'est vrai Aimez Cinnabon et les carrés de date et n'oubliez pas les bars de Nanaimo Tire d'érable, croustilles de ketchup et des choses délicieuses dans des pots de cornichons My Canada has got Timbits, Bannock and Fiddleheads too If you think Canadians love our foods, I agree it's true Like Cinnabon and date squares and don't forget Nanaimo bars Maple taffy, Ketchup chips and yummy things in pickle jars My Canada has the gray wolf, the beaver, and gray goose The blue jay - not the team - beluga, caribou and moose We've got the monarch butterfly, the bighorn sheep and bison My Canada has wildlife, for each and every season My Canada is the Rockies, and the tranquil Lake Louise It is Vancouver Island with its Pacific Ocean breeze The might of Niagara Falls, the enigmatic CN Tower Skiing down Whistler or Blue Mountain, coated with fresh powder The coast of Newfoundland and Labrador where the sea meets the sky The quaint charm of old Montreal, or eating oysters in PEI The pristine snow of NWT, Whitehorse and the Yukon River Just thinking of these cold places gives my soul a shiver The matrix of my Canada, is Keanu and Carrie-Anne Ryan Reynolds, Justin Bieber, don't forget Celine Dion We've got Michael Bublé and Fox, and Shania Twain Rubber faced Jim Carrey, Leonard Cohen and Avril Lavigne In Canada we love our sports, basketball, hockey and curling Baseball, football, soccer, but sometimes we suck at winning Still, Canadians love to compete, we want to test our mettle It shows in our championships and our Olympic medals In Canada our milk is bagged, with toys in Kinder surprise A massive 30-foot nickel, the stunning Northern lights in the skies We greatly value our freedom, and yes, our healthcare is free And hey, if you not yet figured it out, we have the RCMP My Canada is a melting pot, a people potpourri We proudly call this land our home, the “true North strong and free” My friend if you live in Canada, let us stand hand in hand Celebrate our Canada and what make us Canadian
Bio: Brian Sankarsingh is a Trinidadian-born Canadian immigrant who moved to Canada in the 1980s. He describes himself as an accidental poet, with a passion for advocacy and a penchant for prose, an unapologetic style, he offers his poetry as social and political commentary.
