FRONTIERS

My family came from Pritsk in the Ukraine
(A country which translates as Borderland),
Where Russia's vast imperial domain
Stopped at the River Bug, and you could stand

And talk to people on the Austrian side,
Or go across to town and buy a banned
Novel by Tolstoy, which you had to hide
On the way back, since it was contraband.

And I'm from Hamilton, Ontario,
Not far from the Niagara Frontier,
Over which teenaged boys once used to go
In quest, not of forbidden books, but beer.

The legal drinking age in New York State
Was eighteen years instead of twenty-one,
But those still younger didn't have to wait:
A draft card (forged) was ticket to the fun.

So you can understand my sense of loss,
How living in New Zealand I must miss
A frontier close at hand to slip across
When Government declares: "You can't do this."

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