Born in Greenfield Park, 89 years ago
Across the St Lawrence River from Montreal
Feel nostalgic
Last day tragic
The end to an amazing (hopefully) 89 years
Categories:
st lawrence, age,
Form: Limerick
St. Lawrence river in the spring
when a lake makes the ocean its' dream
shallow ice and sand bend the wind
the twigs begin to twitch and spin
sandwiched like a water gin
buds burn through the fragile skin
never is there amendment
sloughed grained signals silently sent
as vast white feathers float to shore.
Categories:
st lawrence, celebration,
Form: Free verse
When Cultures Collide
Where the river ends
And the ocean begins;
Cultures collide
And history’s tide,
Erases a way of life
For the indigenous people.
St. Lawrence Iroquoians
Welcomed the French
To the shores of ‘Kanata’
At Stadacona;
With ceremonial greeting,
Exchanging gifts and ideas.
But only the riches of the land
Are considered worthy:
Natural habitat retreats,
And the environment suffers.
First Nations people would fare no better,
Against these foreign invaders.
***
Notes:
‘Kanata’ is the Saint Lawrence-Iroquois word for village; referring to Stadacona (present day Quebec City, Quebec), and was interpreted as ‘Canada’ by the French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491–1557), in 1535. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians existed from the 14th century to about 1580. They soon disappeared after the arrival of the Europeans, and it is suspected that diseases transmitted by the Europeans to them (for which they had no immunity) were a major reason for their demise.
Categories:
st lawrence, culture, education, history, native
Form: Verse
Above the St. Lawrence pens Line
who reads like a glass of fine wine
If one were to choose
from her list of Haikus
Bridezilla`s a favorite of mine
Categories:
st lawrence, poetess, tribute,
Form: Limerick
As the night air warmed us,
The music had drawn us,
To the ambience of the Terrasse Dufferin.
We were mesmerized in awe,
To all that we saw,
As the music and dancing went on.
In the warm air we could smell the St. Lawrence,
The river that brought our ancestors before us,
And for that moment the past was present for us.
We didn't want to depart,
The moment captured our hearts,
Suspending time from the very start.
We took all that we saw with us,
The music, dancing and the scent of the St. Lawrence,
And all the charm of the Terrasse Dufferin!
Categories:
st lawrence, imagery, river,
Form: Rhyme
air
cooling
like a drink with
a single ice cube
like a stalk of lavender
bathed in
the bitter wind
its vegetable mind
suddenly
remembering winter
stony cliffs
stand upright
precipitous
steep
layers of earth
of rock
waters at the rocky edge
slide toward the brink
and pause
and plunge
over
and over
in a deluge of
liquid voices
as the flood
rushes over
the rocky wall
plummeting downward
white with bubbles
iron of the earth
glowing through the waters
yellow strands among the white
braided in the rushing waters
citrine
my soul’s depths
flooded in amber
drenched in the roar
of rushing water
the gushing water
plunges into
the St. Lawrence River
and becomes a fog
a cloud
a mist
I am the mist
Categories:
st lawrence, identity, river, travel, water,
Form: Free verse
I've seen the Rocky Mountains
From Alberta to New Mexico
Heavenly reaching cathedrals
Rock walls like stained glass windows
Death Valley's crystalline sands
Sparkle like moonlit seas
Red orange cactus roses
Saguaro and Joshua Trees
Green meadows covered with weeds
Deep purple to crimson red
Melting in waves of heat
Reflecting in lakes where they bled
Looked out, over Niagara Falls
Sunlit mist of every hue
Thousand Islands, covered with snow
In The St Lawrence of indigo blue
Multicolored hot air balloons
Floating lazily 'cross baby blue skies
But the place most beautiful to me
Is here, with you by my side
an original poem by Daniel Turner
Categories:
st lawrence, beautiful, beauty, love, mountains,
Form: Rhyme
Just remembering the 50's and the good old days,
When "I'm Bored" wasn't part of our vocabulary.
We had hopscotch, skip rope, hide 'n seek, and tag,
Life was full of adventure, dreams and mystery.
Food was scarce, money earned collecting bottles throughout the countryside.
Many of us hadn't even a bike nor a toboggan on which to slide.
We romanced the rain showers during April,
And frolicked in snow drifts at winter time.
Imaginations were awakened and we befriended,
Our river, meadows and woods with trees to climb.
Back then it was safe to walk alone to a friend's home,
Or explore along The St. Lawrence River's shore.
Back then neighbours were like family- close kin
Who'd no need to ever lock their door.
Simplicity was the poor man's secret,
Practising love, patience, humility and joy
Ever noticed the man who is led by God's Hand,
Never loses the essence of a much admired boy?
Reflections by Joan May Donnelly Ellis March 17 2015
Categories:
st lawrence, nostalgia,
Form: Rhyme
FREEZE - FRAME OF QUEBEC CITY
Time-capsule towers over St. Lawrence:
Heights of Abraham look imperiously down
On the Ile d’Orleans spread over the river,
Chateau Frontenac’s fairytale frivolous turrets,
Le Parlement’s serious severity,
Antique town with narrow cobbled streets,
Overhanging shoulders of timbered gables.
Clipclop of caleche leaps back centuries,
Cobblestones echo concertina and fiddle music
About log-driving men with peavey poles.
L’ete indien - a world of rust and copper leaf,
Montmorency Falls and the legend,
All frozen in time and in winter’s snowy grip.
Categories:
st lawrence, urban
Form: Imagism
ST. LAWRENCE NORTH SHORE
Late October time to go for this rover
The seagulls bleat in lonely disorderly anguish.
River is open but the lake’s solid over
And they know they must stay to the bitter finish.
But the wild geese fly in formation southerly
Flying home arrow-straight, neck
Pointing their way clearly, eagerly
Stretched to escape from Quebec.
Knowing the way without compass or chart
Through storm and night over winter’s land dead
Sure-winged, and with a sure heart
Knowing all that matters lies ahead
I too must beat south now I’ve checked
From the height of land to the shore
My trap-line and furs, I expect
Before spring to return here no more.
Categories:
st lawrence, nature
Form: Narrative
Mohawk Kaniatarowanenneh
Meaning Big Waterway
This part of America
I hope to see one day
This archipelago of dotted lands
In pictures they look oh so grand
Greenery green, like emeralds that float
Thousands of, natures boats
The smallest one only has one tree
Two shrubs, amazingly
A score of them are a National Park
To visit them, i would feel a part
The place i would stay
Is called " just room enough "
One of the islands
Just room for a house
To wake each morning surrounded by blue
Around me and above me too
The element of me to see this place
If the future's kind, i will grace
Heart Island, where Boldt Castle stands
With it's Disney shape and it's garden lands
Bought for a dollar in 1977
With it's visitor proceeds, to turn it to heaven
This beautiful place
That nature delivered
Is a thousand islands
On the St Lawrence River
Categories:
st lawrence, nature, placesme, me,
Form: Rhyme
Polar caps in melt will flow
undulation currents blow...
ocean,bay,rivers and streams
tributaries from estuaries...
The arctic,beaufort,and the baffin
hudson,james,and the st.lawrence
into 5 great fingered lakes
flowing into rivers make...
The mississippi and missouri
flooding's caused many to worry
heavy snow,and heavy rains
which only adds to growing pains....
Life's adjustment to natures might
can be made with careful insight
instead it becomes a continued fight
the loss of gains,the pains of life.....
Categories:
st lawrence, natural disasters, nature, seasons,
Form: Free verse