Question Mark

A daily question mark

Everyday I look out

this window, facing the rue

staring at an old train station.

It’s now an information booth

in anticipation of the summer

and blocking my view. Where

behind it, I know and hope,

the Frontenac still stands

and the river continues to groan.

Missing the drama where two cities divide

the old train station posts a sign

a large blue square with a white question mark

prodding me throughout the day

waiting for questions to be constructed.

What question do I have for you?

Is the Frontenac still there? Is the river flowing?

Would I ever notice a tree moving?

Is it time to quit or is it time to light up?

Would the wind remain icy throughout the spring?

Should I write my academic paper?

Should I stay or should I go?

and questions throughout the night.

Does he still think of me?

What did I do wrong?

Do I need to buy groceries?

Can a question provide answers to questions?

Can we stop the questions and remain in silence?

And yet in its daily consistency

My grandmother’s voice

remembered in a dream more than 20 years ago

where she says to me,

“mankind will only end when questions stop....

....and that day will come in five ....”

Then I woke up.

5 years? 5 decades? 5 centuries? 5-what?

I guess the questions can and will never stop.