– David Crosby

Browsing the shelves of the North
I nearly walked past this book.
But turning through the pages,
It became clear
It’s a great book with a terrible cover

Under the guise of “beef and oil town”,
An intricate, captivating city breathes.
Fractal subplots, and somehow a million characters
All seem to know each other

One character leaps off the written page
Roaming the city on foot and wheel,
Winding through the city like the Bow
Chinook winds pulling cheeks into grimaced grin

Not from here, or maybe they are?
At home with the world, and Calgary too

Volunteering with the gusto of an army of White Hats,
Somehow always at that great thing last night,
Head full of electricity, heart full of freely given blood

Hard to see all they do,
A prism scatters light everywhere

Swallowed hardship and loss, digested it
And still showed up in the morning with coffee
Stronger

In the winter of the soul,
Offers warm embrace, without hesitation
Glass down to the dregs,
the Barley Belt apostle gets you another pint.

If Cowtown can be home for them,
can it be home for me, too?

Holding this book in my hands,
I’m eager to start the next chapter
And see what else this story brings