Dear Gordon,
I heard your voice years ago,
soft, haunting, tender and strong –
Was it wrong that I thought you were
the music man I’d most like to be?
You were Canadian after all!
I’m not supposed to care, but there
you sang of early morning rains
and a steel tied Canadian Railroad in Trilogy.
From morning’s first light
until sundown, it’s worth believin’
that all the lovely ladies would fawn
over you, the minstrel of the dawn.
Softly winding down carefree
highways, and me living vicariously
through the golden voice of my choice.
If you could read my mind, you would know.
If I could, I would have been Alberta Bound
and found the visions of which you sang,
tilting at windmills, the thrill of a modern day
Don Quixote, Sancho Panza at the flank.
I thank you for being a sage of my youth.
Your songs were beautiful and warming;
songs for a winter’s night, not so alarming.
And the day you would first herald the tragic wreck
of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I knew you
spoke to all within the sound of your voice.
You are what I am, or aspire to be. I’m not sayin‘
I could be you, just that through you, I saw the world.
This is my song. This strong connection has lasted
long into my adulthood. It is as good as Gord’s Gold.
Without you, I’d be less sure. It would be a black day
in July when I would shy away from your wisdom.
You’ve given the world much to ponder all the same.
By the way, did she mention my name?
One (of a number) of your fans,
Walter J. Wojtanik
© 2016
The words highlighted are titles of songs that truly are “Gord’s Gold”!
THROUGH THE EYES OF A POET'S HEART 