Summer grasses, soft blown.
As deep therein
Of a sweet embalming
Lie; on sleep's brink.
Its this visual leisure
Now stood up for
Plain's dreamy farness, does more
Such to blur; shrink.
In Canada, the First Indigenous Communities sadly watched as the ground
penetrating high-tech equipment searched and found the unmarked graves
of residential school children. These children were taken from their homes
by force, beaten, raped, and killed, and buried in unmarked graves in what
is called the Sixties Scope. As an Ojibway girl, I watched too.
In a Manitoba church basement archeologists detected fourteen possible
graves sites thinking they could be human remains of children.
Some in the community said let the dead rest, others demand justice for
these children taken by the government. Is there relativity in digging up
the remains after all this time?
I have screamed to the sky at each revealed grave, why! Oh, no time can
erase the hurt and pain of the Indigenous people. This is part of the history
of Canada. No words can ever remove it. Yes, it happened, it was real !
The trees, big or small, high or low,
Are the nicest things in the world,
They wouldn’t hurt a fly, a sparrow,
They host all the birds, blue or white
Summer or winter, in the mountains or plains,
They’re the nicest thing in the world,
They retain water and incredible poisons,
What varied fruits, gifts in their branches,
Oranges, plums, juicy pears, yellow lemons,
And all the sunny mangoes, I forget a lot,
They spread the forests of South Carolina,
Those of the two Virginias, those of Manitoba,
They feed animals, they protect butterflies,
The trees are so nice, indeed, magical,
They stop storms on gigantic cities,
They may poets find refuge in America,
Trees are the nicest thing on earth,
They offer the paper to great writers,
Energy to elephants with big ears,
Around the Breton squares, they do a soothing dance,
Watch them offer peace, and rest,
To scientists, tired engineers, doctors,
Trees are the nicest thing in the world,
Love them, love them, they just wait for it.
We’ve taken this rode to Manitoba
And seen the beauty and felt the cold.
Seen lakes to the East and West,
And now I am feeling old.
Seen a bear in riding mountain park,
But now it is time for a new start.
Thank-you for the memories these last two years
It’s a journey in our time.
What we can talk about it will be fine;
It was your fun times and mine.
Met family members here
Some which we never had met.
And over 3 million people have passed away from Covid 19
Which we can never forget.
It’s been happy and sad times these days
As time passes by,
But it is time to say goodbye.
To BC where mountains are everywhere.
To see the oceans and Gold River
Once again, so much is there.
We will get into a U-Haul truck and away we will go
to see beautiful BC we all know so well.
Thank-you, Marlene and Brandon, for
These memories in our life.
As we explore new and better things
to open new doors and see
What life will bring.
May 30,2021
People ask me all the time; do you miss where you used to live?
In ways I do
I miss my friends, my family, and the music all around downtown Halifax
I miss going to the cute little cafes around the city
I miss the culture there
I miss the sandy beaches, and the beautiful valleys
At the same time though,
I don’t miss it
I love who I have become through the experiences I’ve had in this new city
I have learned important life lessons that I wouldn’t have learned being there
I have met incredible people who I will stay in touch with forever
I got my first job here, I got my license here, I’m graduating from high school here
I can’t imagine being anywhere but this new city right now
One day I may move back to Halifax
I want to
Just not yet
That’ll happen in a different chapter of my life
Talented individuals hail from British Columbia.
Some others come from Quebec and Alberta.
A few call their homes Ontario or Manitoba.
They may come from as far as the Yukon Territory.
People from the true north strong and free
write some very impressive poetry.
We have a few of them on our site.
I always check to see what they write.
Reading their work often proves to be a delight.
240
696
XX
96
Eh? woke up
this Thursday morning
with my finances
shaking the walls
some nice hoser lady
had given me a call
and left a message
right on my phone
she talked
also, very nice and slow
it was all so very proper
Don't Cha, know
she called
and,
mixed it up
like i was
in business
with Al Capone
like it was
a for sure thing
she said
they got my
loonie and my toonie (Canada money)
and they ain't
coming, home
so i scratched
my head
right under my
toque/tuque (cap/sleeping bonnet)
and kissed
a drop of Mickey (375 ml alcohol bottle ) (don't drink yet, lol)
right, into my DOUBLE DOUBLE (Tim Hortons coffee )
and Timbit, my donuts holes
and give
that internet
a Give'r,
of, a cat call
and what the
Kerfuffle! (hell!)
"Hey" I don't know anyone
in Deloraine, Manitoba
western Canada
wow! That's so cold!
burn the eyeglass for a remedy.
knowing now that the leaves have died before.
A northern winds swollen eyelids cast little doubt.......
that there will once again be a skeleton diagram.
that there will once again be a linear vertebrae.
a little persistent recollection of the bosom unravels
in the wind and says that he is walking upright.
looking down at his foot steps science tells him
that it will be a late spring.
CANADA
Big land filled with French and Scots
And then English and Chinese
Empty except for buffalo and snow
Flat and cold except for August in Manitoba
When it is flat and hot
And the roads go on forever, straight and level,
Bending only with the curve of the earth itself
In “correction lines” because the earth
Was in error and should have been flat.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .
NOTE
Correction lines are a fact. Because the earth is spherical,
it's impossible for the North American rectangular road grid to fit.
Therefore every now and then the grid has to be fitted
to the globe with correction lines. You drive for fifty miles dead straight
and level and suddenly go into a curve for no obvious reason
for about two miles, then another fifty miles straight and level.
WINNIPEG FROM 30 000 FEET
Flight over the Lakes - turbulent altogether:
Wingtips alarmingly shaken like sticks.
In the Manitoba prairie’s settled weather
Pilot finds his clear-night city-fix.
Winnipeg’s rarely thought of as pretty;
But now working girl’s out for the night:
On starless ground twinkles diadem city -
A shining shimmering glorious sight.
We glide and gaze at her regal art -
Roads of diamonds in rows enthreaded :
O’er the star-shaped city’s heart -
Royal necklace, black velvet embedded.
Down on earth this girl’s no cutey;
Seen by heaven - she’s a beauty.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(City of Winnipeg, Manitoba, seen around midnight from a high flying jet.)
Entered in Debbie Guzzi's contest
Rock music from Canada is as awesome as rock music from the United States. It's like a music festival just outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It seems that the Canadian rock stars have outdone themselves, especially when they're entertaining all of their American fans. Out of all Canadian rock stars, five of my favorites are Skye Sweetnam, Fefe Dobson, Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, and Samuel "Sam" Roberts. What's so cool about Canadian rock music is when the drummers and the guitar players are on stage, making a lot of music and stuff. It's also as if all of us American rock music fans are attending a Fefe Dobson concert at an auditorium just outside Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. when listening to a lot of Canadian rock music, it's like going into a real frenzy and stuff. All rock stars and rock groups from America have helped all Canadian rock stars and rock groups revolutionized the entire scene, especially when Three Days Grace have made a very impression. Why, if Canadian rock music continues to have affect on all of us American rock music fans, that would be very awesome.
Vast Nebraska sky,
sienna-hued droplets
meld together
forming dusk’s tapestry.
Towering meadow blades -
cool as creamsicles,
stroke my weary head and
tickle my naked frame.
Soothing northwest breezes
leaving Manitoba,
slither through
a nebula of stars -
gathering miniscule
buttercup petals.
I see them
being spun into
a feverish night waltz,
whilst my body lies drenched
underneath the nocturnal shadow play
of placid moonbeams.
I reflect upon the evening’s
natural merriment -
my private Midwest massage;
therapeutic services
not rendered on the
sticky isle of Manhattan.
MUSIC TO DRIVE BY
Manitoba. Dashboard music. The west ahead.
At last the sun is gone - relax my eyes.
Kinda half-dozing, eyelids of lead.
Now slow love songs, with lots of sighs.
At last DJ plays a quick-time wake-up piece -
Jerry Lee with Chantilly Lace -
And I reach for the the volume increase :
Heavier foot on gas pedal picks up the pace.
Kristofferson now with Bobby McGee :
In the dusk I start to sing along, all smiles.
Window down - cold air wakes me,
The rig starts to consume the miles.
Two hundred to go and alone on the road.
Distant lights: some small town -
Feel the wind push as I ease the heavy load -
Maybe it’s Brandon, of only local renown.
Now Manitoba - pool-table flat - disappears,
And the prairie landscape has a slight rise:
Grab the stick and shift down the gears,
Saskatchewan surely ahead now lies.
To Indian Head - Arlo Guthrie helps me make it:
Listen to last verse of City of New Orleans:
Pull in to the Voyageur Truckstop; hiss; brake it.
Steak, eggs, hash browns, coffee: that’s what it means.
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