PREVIOUS TENANTS
who owns this land
attempts at ugliness not only stifle but hold hostage
questions determined to find their way to the surface
... who owns this land? ...
the answers left on clotheslines
until some are dislodged by inequality
renters remain unwelcome
pushed from one home to the next
they bring their potted plants
find a home for it on the new patio
until they can't afford a patio
and still no honest answer
to who owns this land
I know it must be hard to feel
sorry for renters like me
who could once afford balconies
when this was once a forest
before my Métis ancestor
brought HBC blankets
and maybe even stole a canoe
I know who owns this land and it is not me
yet here I am with nowhere to go
forever trapped in rentals
and a little too familiar with basement suites
where no sharing of the yard shall take place
and when their mother-in-law needs the suite
we will have to move again!