By Anna Yin

Who can tell how many places are named after you?
Who can know how many books have been written about you?
Who can count how many paintings portray you
We only know that myriads regard you as a role model.

You lived a large life, a long life, a fulfilled life,
You were a hero not just to our city, but to our nation.
When has a state funeral ever been held for a mayor?
You were an exception; you were a miracle.

Even your birthday is forever a forget-me-not,
As Valentine’s Day, it is celebrated by the world.
What made you? Steel in body and will,
Sharp and wise, solid and unstoppable,
A mayor for 12 terms, into your 94th year, you lived to 101…
Hurricane Hazel, you are what we smile at, and what we are proud of.

I now gaze at a splendid painting by a young student,
Who captured your optimistic visage as our city’s diorama,
Embracing iconic towers, broad arteries, and rich landscapes…
Indeed, you were always focused on the city,
Caring deeply for its people and their communities.
Your dedication and resilience won over most constituents,
Your leadership and vision profoundly transformed Mississauga.

In a male-dominated field, you excelled all:
“Think like a man, act like a lady, and work like a dog.”
But today, above our long international border,
Witnessing debates between two male presidential candidates for “Great America”,
Neither able to deliver a single astute sentence,
I only can imagine you laughing and striking them out…
Perhaps the world is calling for leaders like you,
Thus, in our city, your successors are unmistakably female,
Younger or older…

What an ironic fact, I am not a feminist,
I just want a better future, a better world,
And deep down, a safe city, a safe home…
But the safest city to live in, Mississauga,
Now has more cars stolen, more homes broken into…
Policemen say it is a nation-wide problem,
But who is accountable?

This year is Mississauga’s 50th anniversary.
There are so many great things to celebrate,
so much progress to praise…
But from a cautious perspective, I will stay watchful,
Wondering about poor leaders from this world
causing dread hurricanes from politics to our daily life.

Copyright @ Anna Yin 2024, annapoetry.com

Anna Yin was Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate (2015-17) and has authored six poetry collections and three books of translations including: Mirrors and Windows (Guernica Editions 2021). Anna won the 2005 Ted Plantos Memorial Award, two MARTYs, two scholarships from USA and grants from Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. Her poems/translations have appeared at Queen’s Quarterly, ARC Poetry, New York Times, China Daily, CBC Radio, Literary Review of Canada etc. She read on Parliament Hill, at Austin International Poetry Festival, Edmonton Poetry Festival and universities in China, Canada and USA etc. She has designed and taught Poetry Alive since 2011.