growing up, autumn was a season of flaming maples…the area where I live now is populated by conifers so change shows up differently . . . in rusty grasses, late wildflowers, low angles of light. As winter draws close, colour and sound soften to a hush.
autumn sky
a wash of blue berries
on the juniper
©️2021 Ontheland
wormhole
transporting us to Narnia
the first snowfall
.
.
©️2021 Ontheland
autumn forage
among dark rocks a sheen
of salamander
.
.
©️2021 Ontheland
mid-autumn —
soup to warm my hands
a candle for my soul
.
.
©️2021 Ontheland
twilight moon
a strand of geese
passes Venus
.
.
©️2021 Ontheland
September 30 was the occasion of Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day to honour “the lost children and survivors of [Indian] residential schools, their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process”. This new national event falls on the same day as Orange Shirt Day, observed since 2013 on September 30 by Indigenous communities to remember children who did not return from residential schools and as well the struggles and resilience of those who survived.
I wrote a few five-line poems to honour the day. One follows:
in autumn chill
hearts warming
by sacred fires
the orange flicker of dreams
the eternal pulse of a drum
.
.
©️2021 Ontheland
2021: another Election Day in Canada. Will a centre-left government return or will any hope of swerving from the precipices before us sizzle in conservative capitalism?
Election Day
the hours before
tomorrow
.
.
©️2021 Ontheland
tomato sandwiches. . .
a month of fruit
and finches
.
.
©️2021 Ontheland
northern summer
a leopard frog climbs
the viper’s bugloss
.
.
©️2021 Ontheland
high octane days
the flutter of wings and
sweet nectar
©️2021 Ontheland
Ontheland 