Victoria Day
May 25 2022
On Victoria Day
we honour a long dead queen,
as if this is the most natural way
to celebrate
the beginning of summer.
No one cares much about Her Majesty
or even knows who she was,
even though
she once ruled over
an empire that spanned the globe.
Or the current queen, at that,
who has reigned even longer
if over less.
A long weekend
catching a ballgame
grilling steaks
driving up to the lake
to fish and drink beer.
Or opening the cottage, cabin, camp
chalet or shack
— depending on where you are
in this vast and varied country —
before the bugs hit.
Hardly a surprise
it's cobwebbed and musty inside,
after a long hard winter
vacant and shuttered
and home to mice.
Which leaves me wondering,
what has Queen Victoria
to do with all this?
And why does summer begin
a month before it should
on June 21st?
When stubborn patches of snow
still persist in the woods
and they're warning of frost?
Perhaps because we are starved
for short-sleeves and sun
in this country of winter,
c'est pais d'hiver.
And because tradition suits us;
an irrelevant Queen
we've been just fine with all these years.
Not to mention
that in our short precious summer
is it really worth the fuss
of changing the name
just for the sake of it?
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