Buoyant blog of Canadian poet and haijin (lifelong haikuist) Chris Faiers/cricket. Poetry, esp. People's Poetry in the tradition of Milton Acorn, haiku/haibun, progressive politikal rants, articles on engaged Buddhism and meditation, updates on the revitalizing of Callaghan's Rapids Conservation Area, memories of ZenRiver Gardens retreat near Marmora and annual Purdy Country LitFests (PurdyFests), events literary and politikal, and pics, amid swirling currents of earth magick and shamanism.
I remember taking some of the still photos in this vid in 1969, esp. the ones of Dave crossing the bridge to Eel Pie Island, one of Lorna with a flower, and many of the hotel. Don't know what happened to my old camera - someone must have nicked it for food.
hi Chris,
Ron has just reposted a slightly edited version of his film and also made it full-size (so too big to attach to an email) -
"THIS VIDEO IS NOT MINE IT WAS PUT TOGETHER BY ME AND MY 12 yr old SON ..It was made by us for THE EEL PIE ISLANDERS and THE GROSVENOR ROAD GROUPS and so it is owned by them for there Historical use ..... Hi every one I have re adjusted the videos ..there was only a couple of hic cups and no complaints what so ever ...the time/locations were not quite right for what was needed ...and just to set the record straight these are not my snap shots and neither is the music lol ..I chose the song by Sandy Denny (born in Kingston) and The Fairport Convention because it seemed to fit so well with those far off days of Joss sticks ..Hair 'n' Hash ....and I tried to get the snap shots to fit to the tune as much as possible ....The second instrumental is a variant of the first song ..I chose that because of the laid back ..slightly chilled but still aware guitar work .. again that seemed to fit with the mood of the times and places that we all once knew and possibly loved . Sadly some of the people in the photos are no longer with us (RIP) but will no doubt always be remembered with love and a smile ...x !"
Solar eclipses are conjunctions of the sun and the moon. They signify a new start and a new beginning. Eclipses gradually and symbolically build up energy which is released dramatically all at once.
The first city to pass under this eclipse was Mazatlan Mexico 10:21 AM PST, as it proceeded to the last continental city in North America — Burlington,Vermont at 3:26 pm EDT.
As an expression of astrology, eclipses come in two flavors; unreliable or awesomely undeniable.
The effect of this eclipse was/is both awesome and undeniable. From the Baltimore bridge collapse, to this week’s exceptional and massive floods in Dubai, escalation of the war in the Gaza Strip, 4.5 earthquake reported to be centered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, with a 1.0 kilometer (0.62 miles) depth, and jury selection for the Donald Trump trial — it’s been a remarkable ride and the fat lady ain’t done singing yet.
The number 18 is prominent here. While there is no special voodoo in that number, we usually feel the effect of eclipse for about 18 weeks after the event. The North node of the Moon in Aries was/is connected to this event. We can expect this to last about 18 months, or looking at it as a nodal return; 18 years.
I’m going to speak out now about very bad ideas. It is a very bad idea, quite bad indeed, to go through the remainder of this 18 whatever cycle feeling absolutely powerless to change anything.
The movie Civil War written and directed by Alex Garland, has been released in the past seven days. One of the themes embedded in this movie is the idea of the death of ideology — finally distilled down to either shoot me or shoot you, kill me or kill you.
Is civil war absolutely inevitable with this eclipse happening in the warrior soldier Sign of Aries? When we refuse to talk to the other side, that’s when the weapons come out. Silence is complicity and escalation, while talking and listening allows both sides to blow off steam because someone is listening that we didn’t expect to listen. Listening is not yet a threatened endangered species. All Wars so far have always, and I mean always, ended at the negotiating table.
You will also notice that in the developed countries notably the US and Canada, a serious discussion has begun about seriously taxing billionaires. Make the very rich pay. It’s been said that millionaires want luxury and billionaires want control. Getting billionaires to pay their fair share won’t be easy and yes it is doable. Yep, eclipse energy at work along the Aries (Me) to Libra (We) themes.
This earthly cycle unfolding just now can also be connected to the heavenly cycle of the moon blocking out the sun’s light. In astrology the sun is often associated with rational empowerment, while the moon rules over emotions. The exception to this was when the Greek playwrights connected the noon day sun burning the psyche resulting in murderous madness. The Greeks thought of the Sun as Manifestation of the ego’s will. The moon and her bowl also held regret, sorrow, and repentance. These are also emotions associated with her reflected light.
My fellow astrologers know that Neptune signifying collective desire, dreams, and yearning, will soon be in the martial sign of Aries (in 2026). Last time it was there we had the American Civil War. And yes, it will be joined in Aries by the planet Saturn.
Will a cynical shrug make war go away? How about no? Nor will frightened silence or prayers turn the world towards peace. If you think prayers are the WWWIII stopper right now, I will personally arrange for you to have tea with the Taliban.
Is democracy breakable? In the short term the answer is yes. It will reemerge after the body count and the world wide radiation burns, if we allow horrible men without a conscience to break democracy. Many astrologers appear to be surrounding themselves with an eerie silence just now. I don’t think they would like to be buried in that silence.
If you love this planet as I do then speak up. Silence just now is the real World killer, our beloved World.
I'm always happy that you post the videos/photos I send to you. I wish I was a better communicator (more often) but using the internet at the Library has its' limits (time-wise, etc.)
Today I joined Honey and a bunch of other poets to witness Poet Laureate Lillian Allen receive the proclamation of National Poetry Month from Mayor Chow in the Council Chambers. Very inspiring. Here's the link to the video:
You've taken some fantastic photos on your trip to Brock's Spot! You got a great camera for a bargain price! I'm looking forward to seeing your future photos!
On a Saturday Doug and I zipped around Campbellford buying my first digital camera, a nice used Fuji listed on Marketplace for $80. On April first I made my first photo expedition to try out the camera. I parked my old Sube on a dirt road and walked along the snowmobile trail to the bridges over Crowe River. Below is the first pic I took with my new toy, a view north from the bridges. The trail I walked was on the right (east) side running very close to the river bank.
This was only my second walk on this foot trail. It starts on CRCA land and then winds along the river. It's not posted for trespassing and appears little used. I discovered this trail just a few weeks before this visit. I'm sure it'll become one of my favourite walks.
There is a sad memorial or shrine to the memory of Brock, "Brock's Spot". I believe Brock was a young local man who died on the small island in view behind his memorial. That's my maple walking stick leaning against the tree.
The other most interesting feature of this hike is a series of moss covered crystalline rocks and burrows. I suspect this is where local spirits live who keep company with Brock. . .
Celebrating National Poetry Month - The Secret Handshake Art Gallery, To...
It was a fantastic afternoon of poetry and community spirit. The good news is that Honey & bill will be reading on April 20th, same bat channel.
Nothing like poetry to reinvigorate my tired spirit! best, Henry
Hi Chris,
Did Henry let you know that I will be hosting a poetry program at the High Park Library on April 25th next week. It starts at 7:00 My readers are Professor Al Moritz, Daniel Maluka, Patrick Connors, Judith Penfold and Me. Would be an honor to see you there.
I received the follow-up email from Nick Drumbolis with further links to his biblio research stories on Canadian writers. Nick has posted them on the Internet Archive for all to read. I spent hours reading the first link below "Wayward Letters" until my eyes hurt.
Thanks much Chris (on both counts). Not sure if i ever sent earlier studies like Jonesie's but in case i didn't i'm appending the links below (pardon me if i did). What the academic self-proclaimed arbiters of poetry fail to appreciate is that it's a portal into the life of another human being. An art (or an affliction) that certainly has nothing to do with "greatness". In other words, 'the poet' is hardly a category restricted to those who write great poetry (just like artists aren't all in the pantheon). Recently i pulled down an old vol wch has poems by various kings & queens of England & reading one by Henry 8, wch put his pot on a totally different map for me. Currently 1600pp into a similar illustrated study of Can poe back to 1850, Contact in Context, in wch are countless marvels of the art long gone from common memry. I've always detested surveys of art or community (not to mention parties) that leave people out. Glad you're still blogging & chugging along (happily on a better infernal machine). Hang in, n
Wayward Letters [recovery of a 19th C female author who no one realized, started indie publishing in Canada]
Hey Chris, thot you might get a kick out ofmy new Jonesie list(you feature near the end & like every good poetry dog, wherever words matter). Hope you're swell, Nicky
Btw, loved Eel Pie.
LETTERS BOOKSHOP
647 SIMPSON STREET
THUNDER BAY ONTARIO
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LITERATURE RAW & RARE : BY APPOINTMENT 807-285-8309 : NO BOOK TOO OLD
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Hi Nicky,
Holy Shit! (to borrow a title). This is a freaking incredible labour of love honouring jones. Of course it also honours/remember/recognizes jones’s large literary circles as well. Pleased to be included ; )- In fact there’s a lot more of Unfinished Monument stuff (and of course mine) than expected. Again, what a thorough labour of love!
I’ve been focusing on blogging in my dotage. Age 75 now and soon to be 76, the gods willing. : )- Lots of bad stuff the past two years - cancer op, vicious dog attack, even a few old friendships imploding. Such is the life of a Canuck poet . . . But much good stuff, too. ; )-
I’ve been sending materials to the Haiku Canada archives for the past couple of years, and often post something when I’m contributing on a particular writer. Here’s a post from last year on jones.
I’ll cc the HC Archives committee for their info.
Nicky, you’re incredible!!!
Peace and poetry power!
Chris
Nick Drumbolis in his Thunder Bay Bookshop (from CBC site, 2014 - check it out)
The LIBER AMICORUM tomes on my life and writings now out, 90 contributors, 1100 pages, 2 volumes--so gracious of so many to contribute--welcome any thoughts or insights.
In fall 2018 I began publishing a multivolume series Justice That Transforms, a collection of writings over many years on Restorative Justice. There were three Volumes (so far) in 2018. Wipf and Stock Publishers gratefully re-published (a re-edited version of) Volume One January 9, 2020. The cover is an amazing work of art!I will then hopefully do a series of my general peace and justice writings, entitled Justice the Harvest of Peace. ***NOTE: This spring (2024) I am about to be in full gear again, with two more volumes near publication.***
In many cultures it takes a real man to not act like “a real man” according to those cultures.—WN
Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either – but right through every human heart – and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains… an unuprooted small corner of evil.—Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
Every saint has a past; every sinner has a future.—Filipino Catholic priest at a RJ Conference, Queen's University, 1999
Christian faith offers the grand privilege of sidestepping one's grasping Ego in favour of a True Self. This alone yields the only ultimate liberty worth embracing.—WN.
Why harm people who harm people to teach people that harming people is wrong?—WN (adapted)
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.—John Kenneth Galbraith
Altering our ways of social being carelessly in the name of some [liberal] ideological shibboleth… is likely to produce far more trouble than good.—Jordan Peterson
In [a true fairy-story] when the sudden 'turn' [J. R. R. Tolkien calls this a 'eucatastrophe'] comes we get a piercing glimpse of joy, and heart's desire, that for a moment passes outside the frame, rends indeed the very web of story, and lets a gleam come through. . . The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. . . The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man's history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy.—From Epilogue of Tolkien: On Fairy-Stories.
There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.—Leonard Cohen in Anthem
Jesus and his destiny are, symbolically speaking, the lens through which the rays of all history since the creation of the world are focused and projected into the future.—Hans Schwarz
Assumptions that I had grown up with—about how a society should properly be organised, and the principles that it should uphold—were not bred of classical antiquity, still less of ‘human nature’, but very distinctively of that civilisation’s Christian past. So profound has been the impact of Christianity on the development of Western civilisation that it has come to be hidden from view. It is the incomplete revolutions which are remembered; the fate of those which triumph is to be taken for granted.—Tom Holland in Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, pp.16 & 17.
The relationship of Christianity to the world that gave birth to it is, then, paradoxical. The faith is at once the most enduring legacy of classical antiquity, and the index of its utter transformation. . . It has long survived the collapse of the empire from which it first emerged, to become, in the words of one Jewish scholar, ‘the most powerful of hegemonic cultural systems in the history of the world’ (A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity, Daniel Boyarin, p. 9.)—Tom Holland in Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, pp. 10 & 11.
The success, then, of the most influential framework for making sense of human existence that has ever existed always depended on people like my godmother: people who saw in the succession of one generation by another something more than merely the way of all the earth.—Tom Holland in Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, p. 535
Christianity's principles . . . continue to dominate much of the world; Tom Holland's thoughtful, astute account describes how and why . . . An insightful argument that Christian ethics, even when ignored, are the norm worldwide.—Kirkus (starred review)
The roots of liberalism—belief in individual freedom, in the fundamental moral equality of individuals, in a legal system based on equality, and in a representative form of government befitting a society of free people—all these were pioneered by Christian thinkers of the Middle Ages who drew on the moral revolution carried out by the early Church. These philosophers and canon lawyers, not the Renaissance humanists, laid the foundation for liberal democracy in the West.–from description of Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism; emphasis added).—Sir Larry Siedentop
In this fascinating book, Glen Scrivener takes readers on a journey to discover how the teachings of Jesus not only turned the ancient world upside down, but continue to underpin the way we think of life, worth, and meaning. Far from being a relic from the past, the distinctive ideas of Christianity, such as freedom, kindness, progress and equality, are a crucial part of the air that we breathe. As author Glen Scrivener says in his introduction: “The extraordinary impact of Christianity is seen in the fact that we don’t notice it”.—The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality, by Glen Scrivener
How much I must criticize you, my church, and yet how much I love you! You have made me suffer more than anyone, and yet I owe more to you than to anyone.I should like to see you destroyed, and yet I need your presence. You have given me much scandal, and yet you alone have made me understand your holiness. . . Countless times, I have felt like slamming the door of my soul in your face–and yet, every night, I have prayed that I might die in your sure arms! No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you, even if not completely you. Then too--where would I go? To build another church? But I could not build one without the same defects, for they are my defects.—Carlo Carretto
Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.—St. Teresa of AvilaSee too: the lovely song, based on Philippians 4:8, in turn on Nada te turbe (Let nothing disturb you)—St. Teresa's greatest prayer. Then listen to: a virtual choir of Carmelitessing it; and a recent composition referencing it: Don't Be Sad and Lonely.
My friend Doug lives on the edge of a huge tract of unspoiled southern Ontario bushland. He has exclusive permission from the landowner to explore the wild property at will, and Doug has become the craggy woodland’s unofficial steward.
This week two years ago Doug took me on a chilly and overcast hike to his tipi retreat. It was difficult for me to walk from the dirt road at the north end of the lake through the late winter woods to this special spot high on a rocky ridge above one of the five local beaver ponds. I knew there might be something wrong with my health, but at age 73 I thought the lack of strength was just old age. It was a difficult hike and a trial for me to walk the kilometre or so. The short hike took us abut 45 minutes to reach the tipi.
We rested on the rocks around his tipi. Way across the valley, with the series of beaver dams far below, Doug pointed to an even higher crag. He said he’d like to take me there, but as this much easier route had exhausted me, I thought I’d never reach the distant summit in this lifetime.
Two months after this initial hike I checked into a hospital emergency. Blood tests showed my red blood count was 40, while an adult male should have a count four times higher of 160. Medical staff were amazed I’d driven myself into the hospital.
I was immediately placed on IVs and given several blood transfusions. Several days later I had a foot of my colon removed containing a grade 2 stage 2 cancerous tumour.
Last Tuesday Doug and I hiked to the crest of the “ridge too far”! Advancements in cancer treatment are beyond amazing, We reached the ridge, the highest point in our county, with a survey marker on top to prove this, in just over an hour. We picnicked on a turkey sub and non alcohol beer at the crest.
On our return Doug took a picture of a fallen branch which resembled an antelope skull in some mythic desert. Doug summed up our expedition with - you shouldn’t have been able to do this!
Doug is an excellent videographer who has been encouraging me to relearn photography. As something of a Luddite (technophobe) I've never used photography in the digital age, except to cut and paste from other people's pics. Over the Easter weekend Doug has helped me buy a spiffy little used Fuji camera, and to check that it works, Doug took these pics with it. Now it's my turn to learn how to use it and to start adding pics of my own to riffs & ripps. Thanks, Doug!
Up to one month ago we were still able to hear a litany of pro-Israel apologists on radio, on TV, on the news, everywhere. We heard about Jews who were the eternal victims. We heard about Jewish suffering during the Holocaust. Israel bullied its way into the 2024 Eurovision song contest — despite being denied because of its war on Gaza. Israel managed to bully Eurovision which had also criticized the political lyrics of the original song. . We heard about the hostages and how their release had to be a precondition for stopping Israel’s war on Gaza. We heard about Israel’s agony about being “forced” to murder 14,000 children in Gaza . We heard the outrage from diaspora and Israeli Jews who refused to allow Israel to be disparaged by the world community, despite the preliminary finding of possible genocide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). We saw scores of people, from waitresses at Moxie’s restaurant who were fired, to a retail clerk at a grocery store, to a nursing student in Winnipeg, to medical doctors and residents who were suspended or disciplined because they supported Palestinian human rights. Some establishment Jews had the power to ruin other people’s careers and futures.
Yesterday, CBC-TV’s Adrienne Arsenault, while flying over Gaza, said, “I can’t get over the speed of change.”
She’s right.
But she could have just as easily been talking about what’s going on in Canada, in some of our media, in our public squares – even in Canada’s parliament. Suddenly – almost no one wants the predictably pro-Israel voices to dominate public discourse as they did before. The tide is changing.
Malnourished child being treated in a Gaza hospital (credit: Mohammed Salem/Reuters)
Mark Regev: South Africa has become “Hamas’ lawyers”
Israel’s PM Netanyahu, at one time ubiquitous in his appearances on the TV news, is no longer. We rarely see Israel’s minister of defence, Yoav Gallant a retired military general—but we used to see him interviewed with regularity. Mark Regev, the Israeli diplomat and former foreign minister to PM Netanyahu, told LBC (British TV news) in mid-January that South Africa’s charges of genocide in Gaza were ‘preposterous’, and that South Africa has become “Hamas’ lawyers”.
I haven’t seen or heard Regev on Canadian news outlets since then.
Eylor Levy, Netanyahu’s silver-tongued English-language spokesman has been dismissed. Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari, the head of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, used to be at the media briefings even into January and February, and now is rarely seen..
It used to be that our media gave play to Israel’s demand that the hostages had to be freed before Israel would stop the killing of civilians. But suddenly our media realised that there are just over 100 hostages in compared to almost 32,000 dead Palestinian civilians – among them more than 14,000 children. Some in the media are now discussing Israel’s efforts to cover up the reality that a number of hostages were indeed killed by Israel troops, and airstrikes – not by Hamas.
Claims of antisemitism as a cover for Israel’s murderous rampage in Gaza & West Bank
Canada’s CIJA (The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs), realising how unpopular and hated Israel’s war on Gaza has become, has attempted to keep the spotlight on antisemitism in Canada. The establishment Jewish community has fostered the very wrong idea that all Canadian Jews support Israel and that the interests of Jews and Israel are inextricably linked. The establishment Jews who run CIJA, B’nai Brith and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre are desperate to amplify the spectre of antisemitism in Canada. But much of the antisemitism is backlash against Israel. Considering the bloodshed in Gaza and the West Bank, I’m surprised that most people are willing to condemn Israel, but not Canada’s Jews. I am shocked there is not more outrage against the establishment Jews—as they continue to conflate being Jewish with blind support for Israel.
Several journalists, myself included here, here and here , have noted the scores of Canadians – disproportionately people of colour — who have been fired, disciplined, laid off or had their careers curtailed because they criticized Israel, or signed a pro-peace petition, or attended a rally for the people of Gaza.
All of us who criticized Israel were frozen out or on the outside from the start. For four months, the Canadian media was relentless in its defence of Israelis as beleaguered victims of an attack that was unexplainable, and antisemitic. Suddenly that’s not so. Somehow a threshold has been reached. Beyond 30,000 Palestinians dead, and 70,000 seriously injured, beyond 1,000 child single and double amputees and thousands of Palestinians still missing or buried under the rubble of their destroyed homes– the media’s interest in comforting those who defend Israel, and defendingits apartheid state is waning.
Starving Kids by Livia Burchianti (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
The NDP motion Monday night was further proof. Even with the amendments, which watered down many concerns and the demand for a ceasefire – 204 Parliamentarians voted yes. Only three Liberals voted no which signalled an historic shift. True, the motion was not binding, but it signalled that MPs have listened to the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have protested nearly every week for five months for a ceasefire. Moreover, the MPs have suddenly had to listen to their own consciences.
This is happening now, when the blood of the tens of thousands of children finally comes pouring into our daily newspaper, or breakfast TV. It was bound to happen. Sooner not later. Just after 9-11 the world sympathised with the US for its loss of more than 2,700 people in the attacks on the World Trade Centre. Within weeks, that sympathy changed to bitterness and anger as people throughout the world saw the bombings and revenge the US took on Afghanistan (and later Iraq), and the tens of thousands of civilians killed plus the thousands taken hostage and kept in illegal “black site” prisons and then cages at Guantanamo for years.
Israel, which for a few days in October received the world’s sympathy in the wake of the Hamas attacks, is now all but a pariah state. With Israel’s refusal to allow the necessary food, water and medicine into Gaza, Israel’s shelling and killings in hospitals and schools — plus green-lighting more than 1.5 million Gazans to suffer mass starvation — Israel’s standing in the world will further deteriorate.
Featured photo at the top: Palestinian fisherman holds a crab, part of his miserable catch in Gaza City, 20 Feb. 2024. (credit: Omar Qattaa/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images).
NB: The Hinge of Fate, is book four of former British prime minister Winston Churchill’s series of books that detail the dramatic account of how the Allies turned the tide of World War II.
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