I'm grateful

For heartbreak hill and its name sake
Its dreams and trysts and fights
For canoe rides on dead man's lake
And waves, and muck, and bites
For the ancient cliff and the river wide
And my Athabaska wider still
For farmer's fields and mother's pride
And waters calm and still
For my first home out on my own
And all the growth it pushed
For singing to you on the phone
And not once being shushed.
For ft. McMurray; oil and dreams,
And childhood pure and sweet
For edmonton's dramatic scenes
Its truths, and lies, and meat
For tears that fall like diamonds pressed
And lessons learned by rote
And all the other sediments
That pump right through my heart.