July 1st fireworks glitter in the ground

           gold, cobalt, diamonds, copper

and because native entitlement only

goes skin deep

wherever our hard firms

stretch out their fists from Toronto and Vancouver

to scratch a dirty surface

they find even more virginal Canada

far away and waiting for the taking.

 Congratulations, Maple Nation!

We’ve grown so adept at moving earth

that Guatemala, the DRC and Sierra Leone

holler and flash on Canada Day:

the mines have made so much ours.

Look at the faces that stand on guard

for me and my investments,

true, payroll love

commanding foreign sons and daughters

to rise from their home soil

and with glowing hearts

make way for holes.

O Canada, don’t forget

there’s a peace

that was never fully buried

we don’t have to go that far back

to dig it up.

God keep our land

glorifying God,

loving others

as we have loved ourselves.