Poetic lines penned by oddly absent royals - in Canada perhaps? (8)
I believe the answer is:
overseas
'in canada perhaps?' is the definition.
'poetic lines penned by oddly absent royals' is the wordplay.
'poetic lines' becomes 'verse'.
'penned by' indicates putting letters inside.
'oddly absent' means one should take alternating letters (odd-numbered letters removed).
The alternate letters of 'royals' are 'oas'.
'verse' inserted into 'oas' is 'OVERSEAS'.
(Other definitions for overseas that I've seen before include "In a foreign country" , "Exotic" , "abroad - with 12a" , "In foreign parts" .)