The only museum worth seeing
is the Maritime Museum in Halifax.
There is nothing false or practiced about anything in it
and they don’t have a gift shop.
They have pieces of ships (such as a figurehead or cannon),
items associated with shipping like
uniforms with buttons that really make a statement.
I sat through the video in the small dark room
three times because I could and no one would ask why
or tell me to move on, you’ve looked at this painting long enough.
The most famous museums are the worst.
Just monuments to empire showing off how much that culture accumulated
no matter who they stole from.
The “Masters,” people say as if we should all
genuflect and make the sign of the cross.
The Maritime Museum is real and when you walk back
onto the streets of Halifax that all lead
down to the sea tasting the salty air
you know sailors love their lives,
and the loneliness inside you is deeper than the sea.
Marc Frazier has widely published poetry in journals both online and in print for decades. Marc is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Award for poetry and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and a “best of the net.” He has appeared in the anthology New Poets from the Midwest. Marc’s three poetry collections are available online. @marcfrazier45