Word Prisms

Russell waiting for his stick to be thrown. I sit in my chair in the living room Dominated by a scraggly tree Decorated with dozens of ornaments Collected over the years. I hear the first chords of "Let It Snow" Sung by Garth Brooks, Played over my Sonos stereo, And I'm transported back in time. I'm running, A Sony Discman held in my hand. Snow falls softly Cushioning thrum of tires And engines propelling vehicles On the roadway across the frozen spillway From where I run. My dog, Russell carries a stick That he occasionally drops Expecting my to throw it. And a surge of loss sweeps over me. Yet, I'm grateful For all the years Shared in his company.

I have a theory about guys who drive pick-ups because it’s not often women who drive them and when it is, I figure nine times out of ten, it wasn’t her choice or she owns a horse. I see moms trying to hoist a baby seat into the cab and I think, My God, there must be another way. Like a van or a car. For guys, there’s the young ones who drive like mad men on the highway, in the city and town passing everything in sight. There’s the farmers, practically oblivious to all other traffic on the road, varying speed depending on their mood and then, amongst the farmers, there’s the old ones, averaging ten to twenty kilometres below the speed limit. Finally, there’s the regular guys who drive like everyone else only in a pickup. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I are driving to Edmonton from Slave Lake and we’re about twenty kilometres south of Westlock and behind a truck doing about 85 kilometres an hour. And I think, “old farmer.” Far ahead, I see a pick-up parked on a s

Having been written almost over 30 years ago, I felt "The Art of the Deal" needed an update. The Donald negotiates for reasons of pride and greed. Those in developing countries such as Egypt may negotiate for pride and greed but, for many, they negotiate for survival. Tourism accounts for about  Dudes waiting for tourists to ride their camels & ponies 12% of GDP and about the same percentage of employment. The average annual income in Egypt was $2724 U.S. in 2016 or $3509 Canadian. So, when men (and they're always men) hawk their merchandise and service to tourists on the banks of the Nile in Cairo, Luxor, or Aswan or at the entrance to the pyramids in Giza, they are not looking for money to purchase a new car or bigger house. In all likelihood they need money to feed their family (often large), send their kids to school or feed their horse or camel.   When my wife and I had only been in Egypt a few hours, we were given a lesson in the art of the deal I will n