Poetry juices up my life. Here is a poem from the October 2007 issue of Walrus written by Karen Connelly who just recently won the Orange Prize for her novel The Lizard Cage. Karen is just slightly younger than me, and I have been following her since she hit the literary scene in her early twenties. She is a beautiful example of someone who has followed their dreams and their dharma. Of course, I like that she wrote the poem on my island, too.
Oh Canada (as sung on Vancouver Island) (click to read the whole poem)
my favourite bit:
I stand on the shore
looking at the mainland,
trapped between coming home
and leaving it, knowing like the convict
that something must change
or nothing ever will.Oh Canada, Canada.
I regard the dark water
as coldly as it regards me.
The seals do not speak human.
The herons neither.
I no longer understand
what animal I am,
what is my language.
I only know one thing:if I do not find the truth
on my own cold shore
then I cannot swim well
through this world. …
And reading that poem put me in mind of Joni Mitchell's great song A Case of You - have a listen and be amazed all over again at how much beauty there is in the world.
