Franklin Carmichael

It is time for a Canadian poem

For a poem that will express what it means to be Canadian

We all felt that the time was coming

And now the time has come

As you read the Canadian poem

Think of how it feels to be Canadian

How does it feel? It was hard to express

Before we had the poem

Now the poem has come to us

Now the poem has come across the prairie with its teeth

Its teeth are ready for us

To us comes the Canadian poem

[previously published in Prairie Fire and the Winnipeg Free Press]