The Carpathians - University of British Columbia

Cam
M c A l p i n e
near Brandon, Manitoba
North, of the border: sucking in the prairie air—stoppt /
at a fruit stand offering strawberries resh from the fields of
BC: ($1.89/basket): succulent on this hot July day — the
fruit-seller asking whereya from? . . . fresh from the fields
of BC, have you ever wondered about the espistemological
gap that is the border? — (she doesn't answer, just kind of
stares — & I pause in savage wonder at the wetness of
these berries, my home . . . biting softly into the biggest
berry of them all, release its juices, let them trickle down
my chin, mingle with the perspiration on my face — pondering
still on the dilemma of a line/mind (a situated self)
as regards the question above (cf. 'have you ever wondered
...'—am I north or am I south (of what?) am I east/of west
or am I west/of east of halfway in between or am I — being
hustled on my way now / distracting to the paying customers
— this terminology, I decide, only direction of
movement / not location (dis-location) — the pale heart
of the strawberry / spreads across parched throat . . . then,
toss the green weed into the dust at the roadside & move /
north.