Poem for Tofino

At six o'clock
inside the Moose Hall
the first spaghetti
supper of the fall:
a word or thought
experiment gone awry
& the whole of Tuff City
went boneless dry; as
boilers and radishes
barged Alberni Canal
they found out the acquifer
was not their pal.
From Bremen they came,
zucchini kayak and a dream--
of walking sticks
with little badges
avocado wraps
with nothing added--
not to be told
to dig their own hole.
We voted you in
because we didn't need you--
we should have checked
your leaning lean-to--
& now the dew's bribed
off the lawn & from
infant eyes the tears
are drawn, the Empire's
here but the water's gone.