Being Canadian is hard to define.
Should I salute the maple leaf,
Hockey, having a nice spirit, or
Our secularization from the Divine?
We should look towards the past,
forty years or so, to a time when
Things were simpler, a time
When the airs of change did blow.

Take a listen with Joni or Neil, and
Don’t ever forget The Band.

Knowing that you’re on a lonely road,
Or that there is a town in North Ontario,
Feeling Tears of Rage –
These are the important things,
These are the things that last.

So when I sing the national anthem, my
Words are empty space, and so
I think and sing about a Journey Through The Past.
Neil would be proud. Neil would be glad.

Benjamin Blair

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/being-canadian/