after reading SISTERS IN THE WILDERNESS

after reading SISTERS IN THE WILDERNESS


wild ghosts fly above Hastings County
Susanna and Catharine morph into Margaret Atwood
scraggly hair wind whipping more airborne sparks
than the roaring fire Milt & I are tending on Big Al's point

Robertson Davies is in the A-frame shithouse
scrawling the walls while Big Al is drunk
& studiously pissing on Maggie A's tires

Margaret Laurence is also drunk while
Milt & I try to flirt with a strange curly haired girl
floating by in an ancient canoe
(note: it's hard to flirt when you're invisible)
and some incarnate folk resent the hell
out of being poked & prodded at by unseen
but verrry friendly hands

a giant shaman owl carries me over
the aqueous eye of the Bay of Quinte
below Susanna's angel stretches skyward
her clutched star an homage to the wild literary offspring
she has begat

yes, we love roughing it in her bush
fire bright  faces shine from Gore's Landing
to Lakefield ... Ameliasburgh to Marmora
those mushrooms Al and Eurithe picked
      what colour were they????


Chris Faiers

first draft October 6/14


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Oct. 6/14 from Jim Larwill:

.....  don't get me started on Susanna Fucking Moodie... Roughing it in the Bush... it is one of the most skillful pieces of political propaganda (in the vein of Edmond Burke's hatchet job on the Dr. Rev. Price) ever.

... I mean I like it as a wonderful example of propaganda hiding an ethnic cleansing encouraging the victors of 1837 to come and not Rough it in the Bush, but to settle the farms of the "Canadian Yankees" who have been cleansed... brilliant re-writing of history where revolutionaries become drunkards and with a letter by Susanna to a benevolent governor that is a historical erasure of somebody's else's wife on her knees delivering a petition with a huge percentage of a colonies residents asking for leniency before a hanging... take a look at your foot Chris....

and yes it is true  "Roughing it in the Bush" in many ways is the beginnings of Canadian Literature as we know it....

but not mine...

Jim  aka RK


Chris's note: Jim Larwill is referring to the tattoo on my left foot of THE UNFINISHED MONUMENT in the Toronto Necropolis - which is a memorial to Sam Lount & Peter Matthews, two of the patriots who fought against the family compact & British Imperial rule in our Rebellion of 1837.


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very late Oct. 6 reply:

Hey Jim,
Yeah, Susanna sucked up real good to get her useless Brit hubby hired as the sherriffe of Bville. I've added your comment, & the explanation of the reference to my foot, to the posting. The Strickland sisters & their hubs started off as real upperclass imperial Brit snobs, but they got the stuffing knocked out of them with their incompetent pioneering disasters. Charlotte Gray goes into this in the book - have you read it? - great read & she sure makes history come alive. When I first started SISTERS  I warned her in an email that I was unlikely to be happy with her interpretation of the Rebellion of 1837 & Susanna's family's cashing in on their participation on the wrong side of a progressive people's uprising.

gotta take Chase on his late night poopifying ... thanks for giving the accurate historical reminder

peace & poetry power!
Chris ... & Chase Wrfffffffffffffffffffffffff!

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On 2014-10-07, at 12:21 AM, Jim Larwill wrote:


to quote John Moodie in a letter to Susanna 24 April 1839  "... the population which is very much disaffected but the worst are clearing out as fast as they can get rid of their farms. Now is the time particularly if there should be war, to get farms cheap here as all the Radical Republicans will leave the colony."

.. the difference in Quebec is... we remember...

If the thesis of S. Moodie's book is "don't come and rough it, buy an existing farm" it is a hidden clue to how many farms may have been cleared out and made available... would a book be published in England if there weren't a lot of them?  I believe one could find out by researching the population increases in certain parts of the US.  There will not be records here.

rk
 
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On 2014-10-07, at 6:35 PM, Gray Charlotte wrote:

Love the poem (Pauline in the canoe, right?) and the dissident views!

Charlotte Gray

183 MacKay Street
Ottawa ON K1M 2B5
grayand@me.com
www.charlottegray.ca


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Hi Charlotte,
Glad you like the poem! I wasn't too sure just what I'd written late last night (well, transcribed for the Muse of chiraz) when I woke up this morning. Yep, Pauline was a'paddling through the vision. I heard Atwood speak in TO at a fund raiser for the A-frame, where she told the anecdote about Al peeing on her tires. And Jim Larwill can usually be trusted to offer an interesting perspective (although that contribution might have been influenced by his alter ego, Wilber Walnut).
Thanks for the note ; )
Chris ... & Chase Wrffffffffffffffffffffffffffff!
 
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On 2014-10-10, at 5:02 PM, Ed Baker wrote:

Ed Baker has left a new comment on your post "after reading SISTERS IN THE WILDERNESS":

"Al peeing on her tires"

now THAT's a worthy historical
applesauce

no matter what the facts have become or
never were ?

  Posted by Ed Baker to Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens at 10 October 2014 14:02

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Them's the facts, folks! I heard it from Maggie A herself at a Harbourfront benefit for the A-frame.
Still pretty representative of the state of CanPo I'd say  ;  )
Chris

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my Amazon review of Flint & Feather (Charlotte Gray's biography)

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars then Purdy's best friend, Milton Acorn July 5 2014

By Chris Faiers

Format:Paperback|Verified Purchase

This is a book every Canadian should read. Biographer Charlotte Gray reminds us that in Pauline Johnson's time a century+ ago, there was still the fading hope that the 'settlers' of Canada and the First Nations peoples could create a nation based on sharing and trust.

Pauline Johnson tried to straddle the divide between being half settler, with an English-born mother, & a father who was a Mohawk chief. Her parents encouraged their children to give equal value to both cultures, which Pauline tried to exemplify with her poetry. Pauline's poetry has been in & out of favour several times, & thanks in large part to Gray's fascinating biography, Pauline Johnson's poetry is again finding a new & intrigued audience.

I help organize an annual summer gathering of Canadian poets, & we've been working our way back through the history of Canada's "People's Poets" by studying the leading lights of this movement. Our symposiums started with a discussion on the life & legacy of "The Voice of Canada", poet Al Purdy. The next summer we featured Ted Plantos, then Purdy's best friend, Milton Acorn. We've reviewed the legacy of Raymond Souster, and last year we honoured Dorothy Livesay. This summer we are honouring the life & legacy of Pauline Johnson.

There was some initial questioning in our gathering over the validity of claiming Pauline Johnson as a People's Poet. After reading Gray's biography, there is no question in my mind of the seminal influence of Johnson on Canadian poetry. Pauline Johnson was an early advocate for First Nations issues, a proto-feminist, and a true trooper, in that she earned her living for well over a decade by giving public poetry recitals in venues as varied as barrooms to chic Victorian parlours.

Charlotte Gray's bio of Pauline is painstakingly researched, & yet she has managed to write Pauline's story in an incredibly readable style. One night I began reading late, anticipating a half hour session at most. When I glanced at the clock, I'd been reading until 3 AM, and it was with reluctance that I let the book fall next to me as I finally drifted into sleep with dreams of canoeing with Pauline ; )

Read this book and you'll be a better person and a better Canadian!

 

(I parallel read Pauline's complete works while enjoying the historical narrative of her life as carefully detailed by Charlotte Gray.)


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On 2014-07-05, at 12:25 PM, Charlotte Gray wrote:

This is wonderful, Chris. Many thanks!
I'm busy with a big history project right now, but I'll think seriously about your poets!
Sent from my iPhone


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Thanks, Charlotte  ;  )
As Pauline might have put it, 'booming' is just a part of the poetry business. I hope you will write a joint bio on Milt & Big Al. So far as I know, there isn't a bio on Al, altho there are at least 2 or 3 already on Milt. Of course Purdy wrote the start of his own history with his auto bio SPLINTER IN THE HEART.

best wishes on the current project - it sounds major!

peace & poetry power!
Chris .. & Chase Wrffffffffffffffffff!  (we were halfway out the door on the way to ZRG, but remembered to check my machine to turn it off & got your kind note)

       
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praise for bio of Pauline Johnson/PurdyFest #8 updates

Hi Simon & Mel,
Great that you & Mel are going to camp at ZRG for another PurdyFest! A lot of people are confirming early this summer, both for camping & for participating in other events like the symposium & the dam reading. So it looks like we're going to celebrate PF #8 & Pauline Johnson in style. I believe a number of Anna's friends are planning to camp at ZRG, so I'm looking forward to enjoying Chinese noodles cooked over a campfire again  ;  )  I know Patrick is planning to camp, & I'm hoping Katharine, Hans, Pearl & Brian et al will return for the umpteenth year - it's good we have so many regulars now, so things go smoothly at ZRG & all the events.

I finished reading Charlotte Gray's bio of Pauline Johnson a few days ago  (FLINT & FEATHER), & I highly recommend everyone interested in Canuck People's Poetry, or Canadian history, or First Nations issues, or feminism etc. etc. read it. Pauline was a real pioneer (wrong term to use?) in so many areas of Canuck culture & politiks. I've had a brief email exchange with Charlotte Gray, inviting her to PF, & altho she can't make it this summer, at least she's now aware of PurdyFesting & our overall People's Poetry projects.

The weekend before PF is the second annual A-frame Open House & picnic (Saturday, July 26th), & I've again agreed to proffer a Purdy poem or tale or two. It's a good chance to give a heads-up invite to all the people who attend A-frame functions, & a key organizer, Lindi Pierce, has requested copies of our Hidden Brook Press tribute on Big Al for sale & promo at A-frame functions. 

Congrats to Mel on her Fringe performances - it was fun enjoying the two of you give your street theatre show on the dam last summer - so Mel, I hope you'll share some of your gigs at the dam reading or at ZRG  ;  )  We need more performance art, music, art, crafts & stuff at the fests.

Hard to believe it's just a month to fest #8 - can't wait to see everyone,  share stuff & relapse by the river with good company ;  )

peace & poetry power!
Chris ... & Chase  Wrfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff!


     
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On 2014-07-02, at 9:54 AM, Gray Charlotte wrote:

Thanks, Chris -- lovely write-up.
And I'm happy to see that Brian and Pearl are among your regulars. Brian designed my wonderful website, and I've just discovered Pearl's lovely poetry blog.

Charlotte

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What a small world! Pearl & Brian have been to just about every PurdyFest. I know Brian is a techy, but I didn't know exactly what he did. Your website is beautifully designed, & yes, Pearl's blog is quirky & fun. She posted some great pics of an early fest, & Pearl also wrote a nice haiku sequence about ZenRiver for her blog. They're a real asset to the Canuck cultural scene. A lot of festers have told me they are now reading (& buying) F&F, so I hope there's a small spike in sales ;  )

peace &poetry power!
Chris & Chase   Wrfffffffffffffffffffffff!


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