Category: Government

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Why do we have to go down this narrow minded, hate-filled, route of murky, divisive politics of us vs them, right vs left, Canadian vs Canadian? And how it’s always politicians (of all shades), who cause these silly divisions?

Yes, we have differing opinions and beliefs (Is this not what it means to be human?), but it doesn’t give anyone the right to be hateful and put their interest above others.

For so long Canada was a beacon in the world because of our acceptance of multiculturalism and the rainbows of humanity. But the politicians came along and tore this to shreds, believing it was the right thing to do.

My Canada is not perfect, but she is a place of enchantment and beauty and acceptance and inclusion. Let us, together, keep her that way.

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ClehsmqWEAAHL7K.jpg-largeborn in her ninety-seventh year
how I’ve seen her strive, fail, grow
leaders great, lesser, petty
tried their stamp, impress their will
yet she shined though it all
her people, from the spirit of
aboriginal humanity to the
immigrant seeking, hungering
a better, sheltered, certain life
her multi-coloured communities
match her noble, audacious bearing
my heart bursts with love in how
she stands a symbol for a better way
a greater world

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Vancouver-2016-08

crown
ruler
god on earth
their pitched battles
masters and solders
bring civilization
at barbarous blade point
grandeur imperial crux
ingest, assimilate, consume
conquer mighty forests, rivers, wildlife
subjugate indigenous populations
decree, upon edict, upon proclamation
cracks find a portage in absolute power
resulting conflict, civil and world-wide
clear landscapes of cold-blooded monarchs
revolution at the ballot
atonement in common sense
skin-deep humanity
detached history
still, truth will out
clear hurdles
ways to
peace

photo and poem (c) by DC Lessoway

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harper

when you hear “election time”
what runs through your mind?
do the eyes roll
do you harken to the last time
entering a poll station
unsettled in mind, blindly angered
by those in charge
blind to your concerns
“out with them”, your refrain
yet fearful of change, the ballot
falling from your finger states:
status quo, “quite happy I am”

here, now, years on
happy in your choice?
has the chosen bureaucracy:
made advances in science
increased protection of our environment
strengthened human rights
especially for women and minorities
cared for a fair and ethical parliament
kept the country’s coffers ripe, replenished
kept the heath of citizens essential
looked to the future wanting:
to lessen the burden of our grandchildren
strived to find financial equality
kept Canada’s face and reputation as
a peacekeeper, a negotiator, a safe place for all
overall, have they strived, fought, given us
a greater Canada?

So…
next time, ballot in hand
what choose you?

 

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photo-3

 

look, there, out there
a nation under threatening pall
aged one hundred and forty-seven
at which
at just past ninety-seven, this lad
came wailing onto grasslands
foothills of the distant Rockies
during a brief inferno
in a town, named by a priest
who said, in French,
“such a grand prairie”
there resided, under “Pop’s” gaze
winters, long, brutal, spent in town
summers, dry, blustery, suffused in lake water
nearly twenty season cycles, then
led me to this costal metropolis

to find, define myself

now thirty cycles later
ache of age clutches, scratches
at the exit
my pen, ever sharper
gives conjecture to my
looking backward
at, thus far, a country
my country, I love her bounty
my country, I love her grace
though distaste, at times, hostility
finds my heart, pointedly towards
the regime
I still find, nature resplendent
no less inspiring today
than in my first steps
people, it’s people
boundless, sublime multicultural sweep
what lessons I’ve acquired
from those multitude of voices
repeating this:
“I Love Canada”

Words and picture © 2014 by DC Lessoway

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their profound blood
born in the pristine lands
of Turtle Island
were then, by invading men
torn from their true life
in genocidal assimilation

yet

look to the sunrise
how fragmented hearts, spirits, minds
bring themselves up
drum, feather in hand
sing proudly
for the distressed lands
for their children’s children
for all of us

© 2013 by DC Lessoway