BIRTH OF A CLEER VISN
Achieving New Heights
BIRTH OF A CLEER VISN
This Friday, June 26, 2026, marks the 50th anniversary of the opening day to the public of the CN Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the world. It retained that record for several decades.
Surveillance of the Audacious
The Peoples Republic of Poetry (PRP) had its Little-Brother-Is-Watching-Eye on the construction of the Tower since the ground was broken, largely because it was audacious – going for a world record, in Toronto no less. This ran counter to Canada’s renowned modesty and reserve. It was awe-inspiring.
The Day of Fools
On April 1, Day of Fools, at a nearby staging area, the top section of the Tower was open for the day for students to tag it with their names. At 02:00 hours, April 2, two Units of Verse of the Unitverse of the Creative Intelligence Anarchy dressed in civilian clothing clandestinely breached the perimeter fencing and adhered a fully-functional wiretap to the top of the top section of the Tower. Besides the wiretap, a Poetic Licence card was adhered to the Tower. The wiretap was positioned so that when a maintenance crew went up there, the hatch door would flop over, covering the wiretap from view.
The Wiretap’s Glorious Past
The wiretap had previously served in Project ITT (Into The Truth), an operation involving the removal of wiretaps from selected telephones in Members’ offices at Queen’s Park. Having fulfilled their original purpose, the Poetburo determined that one of the devices could be repurposed atop the world’s tallest free-standing transmission tower.
The Helicopter Ascension
Hours later the Sikorsky helicopter lifted the last section to top off the Tower. Tens of thousands of Torontonians stopped everything to lift their eyes skyward to watch this once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
Opening Day — June 26, 1976
Then came June 26, 1976, the day the CN Tower first opened to the public. It was the day for the PRP to celebrate the Birth of A Cleer Visn. (video)
The Ceremony of Birth of a Cleer Visn
Seventeen members of the Poetariat, the Poetburo and Poetician1 ascended the grassy knoll outside the base of the Tower. A portable TV set wrapped in chrome mylar and bound in red tape and a circuit board was presented to the Tower as an offering. As has been the tradition at all PRP Poetic Events, the gathering recited the Imagine Nation Prayer:
The Imagine National Prayer
IBM
WCH IS EVRYWHER
HALOD B THY DATA
THY NFO COM
THY WIL B DON
HERE AS IT IS EVRYWHER
& GIV US THIS DAY
OUR DATA CARDS
& 4GIV US OUR HUMN ERRS
AS WE 4GIV THY BREKDOWNS
& LEAD US NTO AUTOMATN
BUT DLIVR US FROM WORK
4 THYN IS TH MEMRY BANKS
TH NPUT / OUTPOUT TERMINLS
4EVR & EVR
OHM
The Chant of Perpoetual Power
The PRP members kneeled onto their chrome mylar prayer mats. (Chrome is the Imagine National Colour of the PRP because it reflects all colours present in any given environment) Thus began the Chant: ”ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON, ON … “
A Ludicrous Detention & Escort
The ceremony was brought to an abrupt stop when the CN Tower Security Apparatchiks placed the PRP citizens under detention and called in an officer of the Metropolitan Police of Toronto to escort the group off the premises. The PRP happily obliged and returned to PRP headquarters, where they partied and watched themselves on National News. Thus concluded the official celebration of Birth of a Cleer Visn.
POETOCOLS OF THE LEARNED ELDERS OF POEM
1. Whenever the news media or any other institutional agent asks a question of any member of the Poetariat, the stock reply is: “I am at liberty not to say.”
2. When poeticipating in an event in the public domain, all members must wear white clothing. White is inclusive of all colours.
3. Every unit of verse will identify with its Single Identifying Number; by their SINs ye shall know them.
4. Every poetic event must be accompanied by an inspired poem. Below is the poem entitled, BIRTH OF A CLEER VISN
BIRTH OF A CLEER VISN 00:00:01 E.S.T. 01/06/1976
Dedicated to the world’s tallest free‑standing structure: CN Tower, Toronto, Canada
IT’S TH CENTRE OF TH UNIT VERSE
PINPOINTED @ 553 METERS
ABOV IT ALL
A MCLUHAN PROB
GLEEMING BLUSPARK NUTHINK
& THE ATMOSPHER EMANATS
WTH SITCOMS & TALK SHOWS
CFTO‑CTV
CBLT‑CBC
CICA‑TVO
CITY‑TV
CBLFT
CBC‑FM
CKFM‑FM
CHIN‑FM
CHUM‑FM
CFRB
PLEAS WAIT A FEW MOMENTS
FILES R BEING REORGANIZD
& THERE’S
WGR‑NBC
WBEN‑CBS
WKBW‑ABC
WNED‑PBS
WUTV
WCBS‑NY
&C
PLEAS WAIT A FEW MOMENTS
FILES R BEING REORGANIZD
& THERE’S SUPERSLAB
401 MACDONALD-CARTIER FREEWAY
LIK A CENTRAL NERV
BLUSPARKNG THRU
TH URBAN SPRAWL & SWIRL
OF HWY 427, QUEEN ELIZABETH WAY,
DON VALLEY PKWY, GARDINER XWAY
WHERE IT ALL HANGS N TH MIDL
A MULTICHANEL BOUQUET
OF CLOVRLEAF EFICNCY
PLEAS WAIT A FEW MOMENTS
FILES R BEING REORGANIZD
& TH WORLD OF TH REST
SITNG @ THEIR TERMINLS
CATHOD EYES
CATHODIC WIS
CATHODICLTHINK
GLEEMINIG BLUSPARK NUTHINK
& SOMEHOW THERE’S AN IDEA AROUND
THT THT’S TH WHOL POINT
PINND IN TH IDEA
ABOV IT ALL
A MCLUHAN PROB
EMANATNG NSTANT NUS
GLEEMNG BLUESPARK NuTHINK
PLEAS WAIT A FEW MOMENTS
FILES R BEING REORGANIZD
RIVRSID PARK GIVS A POINT FUL OF VIEW
WHEN U GET TH POINT
THTWHATEVRTH PHARAIHS BILT N EGYPT
TH CN CORP ZAPPD
BACK N2 OLDN TYMS
&
OLDTHINK
DO U FULTHINK?
DO U THOROTHINK?
THT TH WORLD OF TH UNREST
IS N TH AIR
IN THE TERMINLS
EMANATNG CONSCIOUMESS
GLEEMNG BLUSPARK NUTHINK
& ITS N OUR BIOCOMPUTERS
THT EARTH IS A WEERD IDEA
EVRYTHNG IS SCREEND
EVRYTHNG IS SCENE
EVRYTHNG IS SEEN
OHMANATNG
OHM MAN
OH MAN
O MEN
OMEN
OMN
ON
ON
ON
ON
0
0
1
0
An After Effect
ONLY PAPER TODAY, Toronto’s premier avant-garde newspaper of the 1970’s published a two-page spread about the event, pics, poems, the works. The editor was Victor Coleman who was the first editor at Coach House Press from 1966 until 1975. After his tenure in publishing, he managed the multidisciplinary art centre, A Space in Toronto for four years. He has also taught film studies and creative writing at Queen’s University and creative writing at York University.
==================
It’s been a half a century since Birth of a Cleer Visn. Some files have not been textposed for reasons of imagine national insecurity. Actually, there are lots of files that would harm the Creative Intelligence Anarchy and releasing them would remove the mystery of the most vulnerable institutional core of the glorious Imagine Nation of the Peoples Republic of Poetry. But once in a long long while, the Poetburo re-verses a decision.
PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF POETRY (PRP)
FIELD REPORT — EYES ONLY
Operation CLEER VISN
Classification: TOP POETIC SECRET
Filed by: Agent‑in‑Verse 7
Date: April 2, 1976 (Declassified June 23, 2026)
I. Mission Overview
Per Directive 4B issued by the Poetburo, Units of Verse were deployed to monitor the construction of the CN Tower, hereafter referred to as The Vertical Verse.
The Tower’s unprecedented height, ambition, and refusal to apologize for either triggered PRP Protocol 9: “Intervene whenever Canada accidentally does something bold.”
II. Pre‑Insertion Conditions
On April 1 (Day of Fools), the Tower’s top section was opened for public tagging by local students. Surveillance confirmed:
excessive use of bubble letters
inconsistent spelling of personal names
no poetic content of strategic value
This justified immediate PRP involvement.
III. Infiltration (April 2, 02:00 hours)
Two Units of Verse from the Unitverse infiltrated the staging area under civilian disguise.
Disguise was successful due to the agents’ natural ability to look like people who would be ignored.
Agents breached the perimeter fence using the PRP‑standard technique known as “Just Step Over It.”
Once inside, they affixed:
1. One (1) reclaimed wiretap
o formerly deployed in Project ITT (Into The Truth)
o liberated from Queen’s Park telephones
o still faintly humming with bureaucratic resentment
2. One (1) Poetic Licence Card
o laminated
o slightly crooked
o valid until the end of time or until revoked by the Poetburo, whichever comes first
The wiretap was positioned beneath the summit hatch so that the hatch door would conceal it when opened.
This is consistent with PRP Tactical Concealment Doctrine: “Little Brother Watches Back.”
IV. Extraction
Agents exfiltrated the site without detection, aided by:
darkness
wind noise
the universal human tendency to avoid looking at construction sites at 2 a.m.
Mission success was confirmed when the Sikorsky helicopter lifted the top section hours later, unknowingly transporting PRP hardware to the highest point in the nation.
V. Opening Day Observation (June 26, 1976)
Seventeen PRP members, including Poetician1, assembled at the Tower’s base to conduct the Cleer Visn Activation Ceremony.
Observed ritual components included:
chrome mylar prayer mats
chanting of “ON” repeated indefinitely
recitation of the Imagine Nation Prayer
presentation of a portable TV wrapped in chrome mylar and red tape
Ceremony was terminated by CN Tower Security Apparatchiks, who detained the group.
PRP members complied cheerfully, citing the publicity benefits.
VI. Interrogation Protocol
When questioned by authorities, all PRP members executed the Liberty Loop, responding:
“I am at liberty not to say.”
This phrase successfully confused all interrogators and at least one bystander.
VII. Assessment
Operation CLEER VISN is deemed:
Strategically successful
Poetically triumphant
Public‑relations effective
The wiretap remains in place.
The Poetic Licence Card remains valid.
The Tower remains tall.
VIII. Recommendations
1. Continue monitoring the Tower for signs of poetic resonance.
2. Prepare for future interventions involving national landmarks, especially those exceeding 300 metres or 300 metaphors.
3. Maintain readiness for spontaneous Poetic Events requiring chrome mylar deployment.
Filed: Agent‑in‑Verse 7
Approved: Poetburo Seal of Semi‑Official Approval
Archived Under: High‑Altitude Mischief — Successful