Quarantine

Inscrutable black eyes, reflected orient, have come to spread the communist theory of common ownership.

An illegal alien, no visa or passport, makes its home in trees stripped bare by the acid blood of a dying metal beast.

In the vacuum left, when the dream was farmed out to the lowest bidder in tropical climates and the coolies back home, a corundum carapace balances on shiny springs under a lotus crown. Hitching a ride duty free on NAFTA promises a brother’s kiss seals the deal. There’s a bigger border marked out in an adjacent point of view than a place of birth.

 

With the arrival of the daily post we are undone, unclean or un-something. The government of Canada in the form of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has decreed that…well really they have decreed not much of anything other than something might be happening in our backyard. This edict was not precipitated by an actual visit of an official. The cause was the proximity of our residence (a twenty minute drive) to a prior undiscovered infestation of a recently imported and unwanted visitor to our country. Though this colony of destruction may have existed unregulated for up to 5 years the CFIA feels that the situation still falls within their ability to control.

The ominous missive is officially stamped and signed and upon the receipt of said letter I was at first concerned that our lives were in danger. As it is, the nonexistent ash trees that don’t grow in our yard are at issue. Any fire wood that we might choose to export is also suspect.

The grey dreary days that have proceeded the first day of winter with a month’s worth of snowfall in a mere two weeks have been over shadowed by the threat of a foreign invader. The emerald ash borer is here and the Canadian government has taken quick action to stop this marauding beast. The attempt of creating an ash free zone by culling thousands of healthy ash trees has failed miserably and the government must find a new plan of action. I just don’t think quarantining entire counties will slow the spread of this foreign invader. It is much too late for that.