Up in Smoke, or Reverie on the “Mary Jane” Legislation

In memory of Ayanna Black (1939-2009)

If Parliament high-fives marijuana,

Druggists will decide that grass is manna

(Reefer potent right now—and mañana:

Good weed feeds medicinal arcana);

Voters will pooh-pooh pooh-bah and bwana;

Cannibals will forego two-legged fauna

To nosh on cannabis in banana-

Flavoured brownies, baked fresh in Tijuana.

“To borrow a leaf”—Canadiana-

Speech—will pun on hemp.  (Americana

Boasts hang-ups, but our “highs”?  Pure nirvana!)

Dopily, we’ll pet laid-back piranha—

Tame as hippies, tripping in Havana,

Tearing suit or dress into bandanna

And bikini—or briefs.  Me?  I’m gonna

Get happy—coolly hip as a Hanna-

Barbera cartoon.  Every Madonna

And monsieur, kicked-back, chill, in a sauna—

Basking like a Mexican iguana—

Glad as that wedding party in Cana—

Will puff spliffs—as is their wont—or wanna—

And coo sweaty nothings—ninna nanna…..

Let’s spurn gravitas, groovy Giovanna—

Like the still-much-missed Princess Diana—

And croon karaoke to Rihanna

(The Rap-goddess rebirth of Inanna—

Part Godiva and part Giocon’a)….

Yes, we could swaft to sugar’d Guyana,

Or skip cross time zones—wafting to Ghana,

Or chow down on cola and cabana

During Toronto’s fête, “Caribana”

(Much closer to us than is Botswana);

But let’s sunbathe at Bay-Batchawana—

As cavalier as Queen Gloriana—

Joking like blokes—if we toke marijuana.

[Delamont, Kieran.  Interview re: poem on Cannabis, i.e., “Up in Smoke” (2017).  Cannabis Lift.]