Gone to Ontario

[[ Two brothers on opposite sides of the American civil war head up to a remote part of Canada for the duration. ]]

I would not raise a gun to my brother 

for the whole of the damned USA

so we're both heading up to Ontario

and keep each other out of harm's way

We will walk across the river at Niagara

where they've slung up the new suspension bridge

we'll ride out on the Great Western Railway

into the wilderness.

Maybe we'll live side by side with the Ojibwe.

Maybe we'll live on our own

Maybe we'll live on a boat on the bay

But I promise we'll live, 

and when the war ends, 

I promise we'll live and come home.

We could marry some girls of the wilderness

We could send off for brides in the mail

We could settle in the middle of nothing 

Or open an inn on the trail

Met a man said a place they call Lion's Head

Is half way between Equator and Pole
I think that's where we'll climb the escarpment
And watch the stars roll

up here / down there

===

up here 

you are thinner,

longer, not taller

up here,

your head fills

with the humors of your body

your body,

meanwhile, floats

before you, parts unknown

up here,

your body learns

there is no down, no up, here

===

I have been almost

nowhere, almost

been everywhere.

I could see France

ten times a day

if there were days.

Fine chocolate

sent from there

tastes of wax here.

Food is warm

but here there is

no smoke or steam.

===

And then to sleep,

to end the day,

if there were days.

Rolled tight, I wrap

me in my arms,

if they are mine.

===

Over Africa, we are

a moving star, over

Antarctica, we shine.

I have flown over 

you many times

as we dreamed out our sleep.

===

I have nothing to do

with the weight

of the world

for now.

But soon, in the curl

of my ear,

I will feel it return. 

===


[[

https://www.wired.com/2014/11/marsha-ivins/

"But zero-g also has some disadvantages. As that fluid shifts north, you get an enormous headache."

"One of the strangest experiences in space is one of the simplest on Earth: sleeping. ... If you don’t tuck your arms into the bag, they drift out in front of you. Sometimes you wake up in the morning to see an arm floating in front of your face and think, “Whoa! What is that?” until you realize it’s yours."

"When you return, your inner ear—which keeps you balanced on Earth and which has been essentially turned off for the duration of your trip—feels a little gravity and becomes unbelievably sensitive."

]]