Miemories of a poetry man JUDGING BY some of the current best-sellers, there comes a time in the ripened end of life when disclosure can augur peril. Not necessarily wittingly, revelations are made, or made up. Liaisons, some of them unquestionably ques- tionable, are exposed to the world. To defuse any such attempts, | offer up, gratuitously, the follow- ing confessions regarding The Men In My Life. Neither of them could sing worth a darn, to the best of my knowledge, but they had other facets. Bili, the poct, for one. We never met, never spoke even on the telephone, but for over 40 years I have clung to a little hand- ful of his poems. They were writ- ten in pencil, unfortunately, and I fear they are finally fading quite away. Ball-point pens hadn’t yet been invented, you see, and he was composing under duress. What impedimenta tie creative mind must overcome! He wrote his peems on our dear-step, which was attached to our first little home, where baby made three. It was on Van- couver’s West side, and was costing us $4,250 at 3% per cent. Four rooms and bath, it was a treasure. Every day the new little bundle had to have fresh air, thus the outing would be incorporated into the food-shopping. The child weuld return home somewhere underneath the cornflakes and carrots and Pablum. Milk, though, and loaves of bread were never part of her daily burden. Both these necessities were delivered to the door, daily of- fered by men in horse-drawn vehicles. What’s happened to all those nice chaps? What’s happened to all those nice horses? In those days, one had to put bottles out at night, as the milkmaa_ visited earlier than the first feeding. A note would clarify requirements. It was wartime, and entertainment was scarce, so I sometimes wrote my instructions as a “*pome.” Biil began to respond in kind, and I think of the patient horse waiting for him to find a rhyme, it’s motor quietly running. When I picked up the milk Ud find this: “That Standard stuff is quite all tight When 14 cents is out, But seeing 2s how sou feft 16 it’s Special you need, no doubt.’”’ Then one day: “That Standard stuff was quite all tight When 14 cents was out. But now, you see, it has to be 15 cents or nowt.’”’ A friendly way to hear about a shocking price increase. Failure on my part to put out instructions brought this: Win One for the Environment | Zz Call 1-800-667-4321 (in Vancouver call 732-9253} for information. Deadline for entries: May 1,1991 Eleanor Godiey pos THE VINTAGE YEARS “Received no instructions, Tried to use my brain, Hope there is no ructions If I’m wrong again.”* And one dreadful windy wet morning brought this: “Game called on account of rain." For a time 1 was il], and too shy to explain Bill to my home-maker. This appeared. “No litth: notes are out days, No little notes on which you say What you want and what you don’t. Can’t you can’t, or won’t you won't?” You can see why he lingers in my memory. A quite different encounter gave me a real thrill and threatened to put the skids under our little menage. I'd long been a devotee of the personals columns — the best ones were to be found in the Saturday Review of Literature, I thought, though the local paper carried some lulus, too. Like this: ‘‘Would music-loving gent in his 60s please contact lady he drove home from Queen Elizabeth in November three years ago.’’ Such a tenuous thread, one thinks to one’s sclf. Who needs these Movels? Here are all the ingre- Two City dienis. “Would lady who I met Sept. 1973 at the beach in Howe Sound, we exchanged a few words which | weil remember, please contact me at Box 1000."" Romance. Poignancy. Palpitating mystery, ali in the per- sonals column. And one day 1 discovered one aimed directly at myself! What joy! Vd been shopping at the Bay, downtown, and had caught sight of a man I thought ! recognized as a former teacher. So [ said “Goed morning, Mr. Morrison."’ Even as I uvtered, 1 realized the build was similar, the Fedora hat, but that this was not him, in fact. Immediately I apologized, savy- ing, ‘‘oh, sorry, you’re not Mr. Morrison are you?’’ and walked on, And there it was, on Monday, leaping off the page at me. “Would the lady who spoke tc Mr. Morrison, etc., please write to Box so-and-so.’’ My dreams come true. My very own personal. 1 could hardly wait to show it to my homing husband. Who did a compleie Queen Vic- toria. Not only was he not amus- ed, he was bordering on the accu- satory. ‘‘What on earth did you say to this old gecezer?"’ he wanted to know, and couldn’t be per- suaded that the words | quoted to him could possibly have been enough t9 inflame the bosom of some sober gent shopping at the Bay, for heaven’s sake. Surely I mnnst have said something more provocative than reported to have elicited such a reaction. I was shattered. In a day or so 1 did reply, as was mannerly, but with emphasis on my husband’s disaffection. OF course, if he wanted to put me in the movies? I was dying to find out what had turned him on, real- ly, but it was not to be. Probably cured him of future inquiries. Sure dampened me — ['m off personais. Life should be handled so that such trivial human connections can be acknowledged. We need all we can get, it’s what enriches us and opens us to life. We're brought up afraid of slipping a hand into another’s, however briefly. That’s a shame. The world would be a lot more fun. Residents TO SIT ON THE CITY ADVISORY ENVIRONMENTAL TASK FORCE The City of North Vancouver is seeking nomination of two City residents to be appointed as the members on the community-at-large City Advisory Environmental Task Force imrnediately for a term to conclude December 31, 1991. The purpose of ihe Task Force is to review the recommendations of the Districi of North Vancouver Task Force on the Environment Report and their applicability for the City; and to make recommendations io Council on those matters which may be referred to the Task Force by Council. Please recy in writing to Bruce Hawkshaw, City Clerk, prior tu 4:30 p.m. on April 24, 1991. Failaon ingnn Commun ee Sunday, April 21, 1991 ~ North Shore News - 83 qu tu Support Services ave just a dau away + Total range of nursing services + Services available 24 hrs a day 7 days a week - Cail today, for service or employment opportunities Branches throughout B.C. Victona 389-4668 Prnce George $€4-4442 North Shere 987-2465 Burnaby 430-2303 Surrey 584-2224 Richmone 273-1142 Abbotstord 950-9570 Kelowna 862-9245 NORTH SHORE 987-2446 403-1124 Lonsdale Ave., nt it. Vancouver V7M 335 Regional Office: 302-1620 West 8th, Vancouver V6J 1V4 731-9233 66 Are you a North Shore Credit Union member? You're invited to attend the Annual General Meeting. You can ask questions, suggest ideas. plus meet your Directors and staff. Pll see you at the meeting, Tuesday. April 23rd. 6:30pm at the Whistler Conference Centre cr Wednesday. April 24th, 6:30pm at the North Shore Winter Club, 1325 East Keith Road. §9 \ \ . ~ NORTH SHORE '. ° CREDIT UNION “_ q Pe