ABOLI$H! Canuck porkbarrel $enate: for $HAME!!!!

Survey says: We don’t need (or want) a Senate

Canadians, fed up with Senate shenanigans, want changes to the unelected house.

Text + RESET -

Gord Woodward, February 13, 2013 3:00:22 PM

When it comes to Canada’s Senate, a brand new poll shows that about a third of us want to see the thing abolished, another third want it reformed, and the remaining third of us want pollsters who call us at home at dinnertime to be keel-hauled.

Keep in mind that these findings came before we learned of the sexual assault charge against senator Patrick Brazeau, and his subsequent exile; that is, if you can call being paid your $132,300 salary while being told to stay away from the office “exile;” (somewhere, Napoleon’s ghost weeps).

The results were greeted by concerned senators with a stiff resolve, in the form of an extended middle finger. (Taxpayers can expect a $65 bill for the manicure.)
This shameless bunch cares not a whit what we think. They realize we pose little threat to them, what with their “jobs” for a lifetime, accompanied by outrageous pensions that ensure their rip-off of the Canadian taxpayer does not end when their sinecure does.

They can’t even be trusted to police themselves. Look at their handling of the investigation into three senators – Brazeau, Ontario’s Mac Harb, and Mike Duffy, who calls Prince Edward Island home, which apparently is news to every single other person living there — for possible abuse of their living expense allowances.

Showing how seriously they take this matter, the senators have called on one of their committees to actually interview the three! And they wrote a letter to them too.
Whew! Hard decisions like that sure justify the big bucks we pay senators. But they don’t explain why they don’t feel any obligation to actually show up for work regularly. Brazeau had the worst attendance record of any of this sorry lot last year, missing about a quarter of the sittings. And he won’t even go into the record books as the worst truant.

That “ honour” goes to Liberal Andrew Thompson, who resigned in 1998 after it was revealed he had attended about five per cent of sittings over more than a decade. While pocketing full paycheques, and with the full knowledge of his colleagues. There may not be honour among thieves, but apparently there is loyalty.

Well, we taxpayers owe none of our loyalty to this halfway house of political whoring (maybe that’s why it’s called the Red Chamber, in honour of the brothels whose colour scheme it borrowed).

The Senate just has to go. It serves no useful purpose (unless studying economic and political developments in the Republic of Turkey counts). It is an affront to democracy, granting unelected patronage appointees power over our elected Parliament.
And it is an unjustifiable expense. We don’t need two houses full of politicians. Just ask ordinary Americans how well they are being served by the governmental gridlock down there between their House and Senate (and at least they elected all of their officials, even the dead ones.)

We really didn’t need a survey to tell us that Canadians deem the Senate well past its Best Before date. What we do need now is a poll in the House of Commons – more formally known as a vote – to get rid of this travesty once and for all.

Above: Senator Patrick Brazeau accepts the Bad Sport Award at the National Press Gallery Dinner Saturday in Gatineau, Quebec, Saturday November 3, 2012. Image credit: THE CANADIAN 

PRESS/Fred Chartrand

Thank you for voting!

  Yes  91.84%   

 

No  5.22%   

 

Undecided  3%   

 

Return To Poll  

JACKIE and JACK: Jim Christy play opens in Toronto

The Theatre Lab and Back Burner Productions are proud to 
present our upcoming collaborative production Jackie and Jack
premiering at Unit 102
Studio Theatre, Friday February 22, 2013.
 
Written by the legendary Canadian polymath Jim Christy,
 Jackie and Jack is a ‘What If’ play that follows the meeting
of two of North Americas’ most tragic figures. Jack Kerouac
and Jackie Kennedy. The play is an examination of an
encounter the two may have had on a beach in Hyanis,
Northport - 1959, at a period of time when both of their lives
are changing irrevocably.
 
Originally presented in workshop for the public in the spring
of 2011 by director Guy Doucette (The Nightwood, Little War)
of Back Burner Productions the play is returning to the stage
with the collaboration of producer Michael Orlando
(Theatre Lab, Collective Studio). Also returning to the stage
to reprise her role as Jackie Kennedy, is actor Roselie Williamson
(Into, Canadian Stage) and Katrina Carey as ‘Little Eddie’
(Little War, Back Burner Productions). New
to the production is actor Jack Clift (Two Gentlemen of Verona,
Rose Theatre) taking on the role of the King of the Beats,
Jack Kerouac.
 


Jackie and Jack  
Toronto: Back Burner Productions presents the world
premiere of “Jackie and Jack” February 22-March 2
Stage Door News
02/02/13 9:18 PMStage Door News
Page 2 of 2
Written by Jim Christy directed by Guy Doucette
featuring Roselie Williamson | Jack Clift | Katrina Carey produced by Michael
Orlando
February 22nd to March 2nd
Unit 102 Theatre | 376 Dufferin Street (just south of Queen St. W)
Performances:
February 22nd | 8pm
February 23rd | 8pm
February 24th | 2pm PWYC & 8pm February 26th | 8pm
February 27th | 8pm
February 28th | 8pm
March 1st | 8pm
March 2nd | 8pm
Tickets: $15 advance (through T.O.tix) | $20 at-the-door | Sunday Matinee
PWYC
Tickets can be purchased in advance (either in person or online) through T.O.tix
or at the venue, 30mins prior to show-time. 

Interview with Chris Faiers by Patrick Connors on newz4u

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• Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Eel Pie Island Dharma

February 13, 2013 | Filed under: Arts,Featured,Patrick Connors | Posted by: patrick

 

 

Chris Faiers’ Ode to Youth Number 7 on Amazon

Patrick Connors – Toronto:  Chris Faiers was born on Hamilton Mountain in 1948.  His family emigrated to the southern U.S. when he was six. Although a Canadian citizen, he was eligible to be drafted for the Vietnam War as a resident alien. Chris became an anti-war activist in Miami, Florida, attending demonstrations, organizing a campus group and publishing an underground newsletter.  He left the U.S. forever in June 1969.
Chris lived for two years in the largest commune in the United Kingdom, the derelict Eel Pie Island Hotel in Twickenham.  Eel Pie Island Dharma tells the story of his explorations

and adventures in the late ’60s and early ’70s.
“Basho, a wandering Japanese poet who lived in the late 1600s, created the haibun form”, Faiers said.  “He refined an ancient Japanese tradition of short nature poems into the haiku, which in Japanese are written with a 5-7-5 syllable structure. Over recent decades English language haiku poets – “haijin” – have shortened this form, as the way of counting syllables is much different in the English language.

“Late in life Basho began a series of Zen-inspired pilgrimages. He wrote travel journals about these journeys, interspersing narrative prose with his insightful and meditation-informed haiku. This unique combination of poetic prose and haiku became haibun.

“So, Eel Pie Island Dharma is of literary and historical significance for a number of reasons. It is among the first published English language haibun. It has also become a historical document of the late 1960s, and previous editions of it have been quoted and referenced in a number of prestigious books.

“I have to thank Richard ‘Tai’ Grove, publisher of Hidden Brook Press, for believing in this book and producing it!”

“I am proud of bringing Chris’s book into print”, Grove said.  “It is worthy of being found in collections and on library shelves.”  When I asked him about Faiers’ success, having been ranked as high as seventh on Amazon for poetry at times, Grove said, “We just keep plugging the book – word of mouth.”

“Being ranked #7 feels great, and gives some validation to what I am doing,” Faiers said.  “We live in a capitalist society, and poetry is not really about making money, but is more of a spiritual calling.”

Here is the link to where you can purchase it on Amazon.

“It is also being sold online by alibris and SmithBooks.”

Chris Faiers then

The book is a very easy read, and contains colourful memories of Faiers’ formative years.  I asked him which experiences from this era affected him the most.  “First of all, definitely my initial visit to a Buddhist monastery.”  This certainly feels like a turning point in the book, as well as for Faiers, but an earlier experience affected him profoundly, and directly led to his Buddhist practice.

“The other one was meeting George Harrison.  Initially, I didn’t get the Beatles.  But then they opened up what it means to be an artist, Eastern mysticism, really the whole world to me.  

George was just a guy, not a ten-feet tall demigod with rainbows shooting out his fingers.  He was a short guy, wearing blue jeans, sort of “of us”.  My friend Canadian Peter gave him a tape of his music, hoping to be recorded by Apple Records.  I was so shy, but I managed to give him Cricket Formations, which was a collection of my early haiku.  The next week, California John and Canadian Peter went to find the results of their efforts.  Harrison told him he didn’t really care for the tape, but that he liked my poetry.  I always appreciated that he took the time to read my book.”

Eventually, Faiers did have to tune back in, and got a job as a grave-digger.  “I almost starved to death when my parents stopped sending me small monthly cheques. I had understood the cheques were a legacy from my grandmother, but anyway ‘for my own good’ I didn’t receive any money for several months over the winter and spring of 1970. There weren’t many potential jobs for a long haired, bearded young foreign hippie, and working in a graveyard was one of the few places someone like me could get hired.  It was also a peaceful job, and I believe legendary blues guitarist Peter Green went to work in a London graveyard to escape the groupies and fame. Of course I quickly adopted the usual jokes about it being ‘a dead end job’ and ‘people just dying to get in here’.”

Faiers attended some of the music festivals which marked the times.  “I attended two Isle of Wight Festivals. The first one was in the summer of 1969, in August, the same month as Woodstock.

“I also attended the first Glastonbury Music Festival. It was really a sort of tribal gathering for hippies from all over the UK, Europe and even North America. It’s a great irony that this once most counter-cultural of events has survived for decades and become the largest music festival in the English speaking world!”

Chris and Chase now

I asked him if he still longs for his freewheeling, free-loving, freak flag flying hippie days.  “There’s not really much of a dosser (English slang for someone who sleeps outdoors) in me anymore.  I own a small bungalow, have a hot shower every morning, take my dog Chase for a walk.

“However, Bohemia and artistic expression thrive on the opposite end from capitalism.  I encourage the get-off-the-grid lifestyle.  People who can’t afford a traditional vacation should go camping.”

To that end, Faiers is the main force behind Purdyfest, which is held in Marmora every August long weekend.  Dorothy Livesay is the focus behind this year’s festival, which features free camping and activities at ZenRiver Gardens.  For more information, please visit their website.

“When I come into the city to visit people, they consider me to be a poor poet.  By my standards, I am successful!”

the dharma path, bohemia, and Brit art schools

following is my response to an email interview:

Hi Sandra,
I'm pleased my answers will be of help for your feature article  :  )

Now I'll do my best to answer your questions about cities losing their 'creative pockets' through gentrification. As I believe I already said, it was ever thus, all over the planet. Creative pockets of artists, bohemians - the current trendy word may be 'outliers' - gather together through a combination of necessity & mutual interests. Think Paris and Hemingway, Eliot, Joyce et al. Think Bloomsbury in London, or Greenwich Village in New York. My personal examples are Coconut Grove in Miami and Yorkville in Toronto.

I discussed this phenomenon with several friends after writing my initial responses. Sometimes I call this 'gathering' of like-minded spirits the dharma path - perhaps not the dharma path of traditional Buddhism, but more the Westernized dharma path of Jack Kerouac and his Dharma Bums. Those on this path of seeking through experience and artistic expression will always find each other & group together. Sometimes this will be in a specific locale, such as Eel Pie Island or the above mentioned literary enclaves. Sometimes the dharma path is more convoluted & winding, & the path becomes literally a path  :  )

I believe the establishing of dozens of arts colleges in the UK post WW2 was an interesting & incredibly unorthodox experiment in helping young people express their creativity. The Beatles, Clapton - a whole generation of British musicians - came out of this art school experience. And then they came to play to each other at venues like the Eel Pie Island Ballroom. I often wish the powers-that-be, the establishment, would have more wisdom in funding ventures like this. The arts are the most important facet of every culture, and even the most hardcore capitalists have come to realize this - in their pocketbooks, if not their hearts!

Bohemia - the dharma path - whatever we wish to name it - always needs to move on, and perhaps this moving about, this nervous energy & restlessness, is a key part of the creative process itself!

Chris Faiers


                                          ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Piccadilly circus
Cupid's fountain spraying
hippies


Bay wind blowing
Coconut Grove sailboats
tinkling rigging

When alcohol ...

When alcohol  (for Milt & Al)

 
When alcohol rewires the brain
jumbles all ramshackle the way
windstorms pile gray pick-up sticks
together on a snowy beaver swamp

Is this just cheap Zen?
or pickled knowledge
of hotwired truth
all mystics perceive

When anger rewires the brain
thinking of Milt, now, not you Big Al
is this Stalingrad barrage
the same truth? or something
more ... or lesser

when alcohol rewires the brains
of two best friends
in a deserted A-frame
on a lonely lake
years later we all benefit

Standing with my small dog
admiring pick-up sticks piles
brain fueled by alcohol -
one lone beer -
I think of you both
as synapses barrage fire
and I stumble into the swamp's cold creek ...

Chris Faiers ... and Chase Wrfffffffffffffffffffffffff!







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email from Katherine L. Gordon
Feb. 11/13

Chris
 
You have caught that grey clutch of deadwood,  the swamp we struggle in.
We suspect that beyond the debris of this plane there are rainbows. Just a glimpse can light
the soul.   Long ago the wine of Bacchus blew the brain into other dimensions,   old cultures
found the plants that changed vision.  It is not satisfying to see only this dull sphere that muffles
all the senses.   Zen is a magical tool when we learn to use it, but many a great poet
has found some way to deaden the pain and futility that often chains our spirit on this dimension.
You have written this in true People’s Poet style,  brought us close to the anguished moments of these great men.
Their poetry is a sacred wine that feeds our hope, gives us flashes of the many dimensions around us,
even an access to them.     No wonder they live always with us.    Your empathy speaks to the union
of all longing humanity.    
Katherine L. Gordon

Thanks for the kind words, Katherine  :  )
I felt very close to Milt & Al yesterday when their vision & these words came to me.
Chris ... and Chase Wrfffffffffffffff!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Peter,
Thanks! Great write-up on the A-frame. I visited there with TO poets Kent Bowman & Mick Burrs last Saturday afternoon, Jan. 26th. We wandered around the A-frame grounds,
& Chase (my shih-tzu-on-steroids) & I relieved our chilled kidneys in the brush. Kent & Mick took loads of photos, some with the frozen surface of Roblin Lake for a background.
Chase risked the ice (after all, he has 4-wheel drive!), while we humans watched, leaning against a huge old 'totem' hardwood. One hut of brave ice-fishers was silhouetted against the cold sky. 

The teensy A-burg library was open for once (it was Sat.), & we got to admire the display case with Big Al's Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, & some other honours & memorabilia. Kent & I donated books to their meagre (non-existent) poetry section.

Then we drove the block to the entrance to the small conservation area where Al is buried in the pioneer cemetery. I poured half a beer over the grave, & we each took an
honourary  swig to toast Al. I clicked my dragon tsing-shas together 3 times for a goofy invocation, & lit a stick of incense propped on top of Al's bookish grave. We took turns reading Al's poetry, & while Mick read a flock of tiny birds (nuthatches?) flipped branch to bare branch in the bushes by the millpond. They disappeared as Mick finished his poem - he didn't believe me when I told him about his feathered & appreciative but fickle audience  :  )

three freezing poets
read Big Al's poems
to fickle feathered ones

Ed Baker on Naropa University 'honouring' John Cage

well

here is what Naropa University is "doing" re: John Cage …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2QROf34NAE


JEESH !   I got as far as  "in that crowded & turbulent room, never made my way
up to the front to say hello"

do ALL universities reduce things to a marketable BLATHER  and same-said "stuff"
over and over and over again ..

and the obligatory "I knew [ John Cage, and Merce and Raushenberg   and John ate "mushroom
sautéed on the side"  ….

too much research and archived "stuff" for me….

damn … there she goes again  "when I graduated Holyoke I knew John  [ he] was "esoteric and
beyond me and autographed my book… it was dharma'   or some such she said

THIS IS NOT what John Cage was about … the is what has been left of his results….

these folks just mimicking and  imitating …

I met John in 1970
or 1971 first at
his music publisher's
&
the next day
at his house on Bank Street


the last thing that he said to me
(after grazing through my ms:
Points / Counterpoints)  was

"you're very busy. Want to stay for lunch?"

He was cutting up some vegetables  / green
& yellow peppers and a pile of some ugly
mushrooms near them  maybe there was also
onions  & there was brown rice cooking

I said :  "Pauline is waiting for me at the Ear Inn."

He smiled and ask if he cld hold on to the ms for awhile and "pass it around"

so I did.

" you echoed the breath of dharma across my heart" THE GIRL IN THE FILM
just said … then (the expected "silence" transitioning into the audience's applause…


so? what's my point ?

I don't know
otherwise:

even any one of my
points
is
point-less
and
EACH
point
is it s

OWN

center of the universe

cheers, Ed


actually

about 27 mins in

the guy playing the black piano who is playing the boac-
piano's white and black keys
is pretty good … kind of (what has become) the (for want of a more
better description)
                                       Abstract Expressionistic Painting where
the music is what of the paint trickles down ?

                                     ???????????????????????
 

Hey Ed,
I gave up after listening to the worst ever telling of the 2 monks and the woman by the stream  :  )
Chris/cricket & Chase Wrffffffffffffffffff! (didn't listen to any of it!)

                                    $~$~$~$~$~$~$~$~$~$~

Ed Baker has left a new comment on your post "Ed Baker on Naropa University 'honouring' John Cag...":

well
I let it run it course as
I was working on on my latest book:

AS I RE:CALL POEMS OF AN URBAN HERMIT

I think that I sent you an early pdf version... It sure has changed since then ! So, stick what I sent to you in a clavichord and hits some random sour note and sit down with a cute girl and try to figure out where the Sound went..

as for the Cagian Presentation ? you mean that you didn't get to the last piece? The cute girl in a long-black chemise
fucking the sod ?

Cage made a Big Business out of repeating over-and-over and over again same stories, lectures, presentations... going commercial ,as far as I am concerned, cheapened the great points that he made. now ? It s all become just another fucking condom-wearing product to sell...

Cage: Suzuki / mushrooms
silence / mushrooms
I met / mushrooms
zen / mushrooms
merce / mushrooms
Black Mountain / mushrooms

...et ceteras




Posted by Ed Baker to Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens at 7 February 2013 07:57

                     *********************************

link to Ed's site (may not be live - you may have to key it in) - read the whole story, see the movie!

I put up a link to the post so that (also) the "public" can see it.

http://www.facebook.com/fu11moon
 
                     ********************************
 

owl shaman-witch/barrel-rolling blue herons/Manitou - Buddhism

On 2013-01-30, at 6:48 PM, marvin orbach wrote:

Hi Chris,
  Thanks so much for your new haiku.  It is a jewel.  A thing of
beauty.   A joy forever.
  Have you thought about writing a major, new haibun describing your
experiences while hiking in the forest?   Have you ever had the good
luck of meeting Manitou?  Our forests are full of spirits.
  Peace & poetry power.
  Marvin.

Hi Marvin,
My friend Sylvia & I had a good chuckle when I told her you had opened the door by asking about my spiritual & metaphysical blatherings  :  )
I can't say I've had the experience of meeting Manitou, but I haven't met Jesus either  :  )  One day I may attempt to describe to you my personal
spiritual cosmogony - it's very simple to me & yet can sound very complicated (garbled!) when I try to explain it.
 

Well, here goes ... got some spare time tonite so might as well start     ...   :  )

The most accurate overview is that I'm some sort of Buddhist. At a very young age, around 19 (circa 1966-67), I bought a pb on yoga & learned the asanas & some breathing practices. I could sit in a full lotus for several hours at a time, I was semi-veg, & very 'pure' in spirit while opposing the VN War. Yes, a drug of some sort was involved, but I had a very strong & completely unexpected enlightenment* in this period, which has given me strength ever since & supplied the basis for much of my poetry & my life.

I've discussed Buddhism with a FN person at the Petroglyphs Park, & he also recognized the parallels between FN beliefs & practices & traditional 'Tibetan' Buddhism. So when I had my 'enlightenment' experience, it could also be said that I experienced (encountered) Manitou.

I have also had some very powerful & unbelievable encounters with lesser spirits & energies we would classify as FN. About a decade ago I had several ongoing
encounters with an owl shaman, who was living with/as a huge owl. One afternoon the owl swooped over my car on a remote back road, and led me for about a mile. That nite I decided to visit the owl in a mild state of meditation & sedation on tylenol 3s for kidney stones. I did a 'mind cast' into the owl, & was instantly rebuffed by an ancient FN
shaman (witch) who lived in the owl .

The old shaman/witch was VERY pissed off at my intrusion, & assumed that I had come to fight for possession of his owl. I backed off immediately, assuring him I was a silly white man who had blundered into his being. After some time he accepted this, & the 3 of us took a wild nite flight over some of my favourite remote countryside.

Later the owl shaman visited me in my dreams, & we fought for possession of this human body - far better to eat cooked food & live in a warm house than to eat mice & worms & live in cold trees! I believe I won this battle, but sometimes when I look in the mirror, another pair of eyes looks out & shares an ancient consciousness.

Of course I've had many encounters with nature at ZenRiver, esp. when sitting on the deck of the shaman shack before - during - and after meditation sessions. A few times friends have been fortunate to be sitting with me, & we have witnessed 'wild' things performing incredible stunts & activities. A pair of blue herons flew low over us one aft, then did a barrel roll loop-de-loop over the river! I've seen huge ancient turtles mating in a wild roll into the millpond depths, locked eyes with a huge & gorgeous roaming timber wolf, countless exchanges with deer, befriended a small mother mink who lives across the river from the shaman shack, etc. etc. .

Lesser spirits have accidentally been photographed wandering around ZenRiver ... the list of experiences many would classify as paranormal or shamanic is quite endless & frequent.

peace & poetry power!
Chris/cricket & Chase ... wrfffffffffffffffff! (both tired after a long hike on the trails this chilly day)

*planned to go into some detail on 'enlightenment', but too tired

following are some haiku published in SIMPLY HAIKU, including the only haiku I've published so far about the scary visit with owl shaman

p.s. after scanning these older haiku, I remembered that my friend Morley & I saw a cougar (black panther) while we were building the shaman shack - many totems!


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Simply Haiku: An E-Journal of Haiku and Related Forms
| Contents | Archives | About Simply Haiku | Submissions |
Chris Faiers

Old hotrodder
racing with the harvest moon
. . . in the rearview
	owl swoops and dips
	soars and shares
flashing white	night visit
from a rusted wheel well . . .
jackrabbit
	shaman neighbour
	visits wildcats
night wolf hunt - - -	which are extinct
distant flames,
northern lights!

Chris (Christopher) Faiers was born on Hamilton Mountain, Ontario, Canada in June 1948. He began publishing haiku in 1968 under the guidance of Haiku Magazine’s Eric Amann. He had an enlightenment at age 20. Cricket was his childhood nickname and is his haijin name. At 21 he left the US, where he grew up, in opposition to the Vietnam War. For 3 years he lived in the UK. Eel Pie Dharma: a memoir/haibun is online at http://alt.venus.co.uk/weed/eelpie. His 1969 chapbook Cricket Formations is also online there. Chris has walked many thousands of miles, night and day, often in moving meditation or shamanistic awareness, on the remote trails where he lives in rural Ontario. He works as a librarian/CEO. He hopes this is his last incarnation on Earth for a long while, although it probably isn’t : ) Chris writes: I don’t have a digital camera or even a recent pic. I’d prefer a stylized pic or photo of a cricket to accompany my poems - I trust your artistic judgment to select a good cricket : ). Editor's Note: The Chinese cricket glyph, pictured right, is Simply Haiku's choice, as requested, to represent Chris. It comes from inscriptions found on tortoise shells in archaeological sites in China. We aren't sure whether this image actually looks like Chris, but we hope that it satisfies him. The glyph was taken from the Chinese Cricket Culture website. We think that the glyph carver might have been pleased at the thought of having his artwork honored several millennia after his thousand mile walk ended.

---

Copyright 2003/2004 Simply Haiku

   

On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 1:32 PM, Chris Faiers <zenriver@sympatico.ca> wrote:
Hi Marvin,
About two weeks ago Chase and I hiked the Sorrow Falls trail. We stopped on
the first narrow bridge, the one where I carved my shaman sign into the
top railing the winter I was fired by the library board witch hunt six years
ago. Although many of the traumas of my former work life have dissolved over
time, they have been
replaced by the day-to-day petty concerns all humans share. I scraped snow
off the railing to enjoy my carving, and then put my face into the sun's
strength. Almost immediately the minor cares of the day dissolved, my inner
voices ceased, and suddenly I could hear the river overwhelming my
awareness.

facing the sun
thoughts fade ...
river's voice rumbles


note: this is the third draft of the haiku - often a haiku presents itself
to me in perfect form, but other times I have to revise from several to many
times to capture the essence of the
experience
peace & poetry power!
Chris/cricket ... and Chase (who of course shared the hike & many biscuits)

                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Email from Katherine Gordon:

Thanks for forwarding this Chris.
According to modern physics you and I might glimpse other dimensions.
This valley is filled with FN residue of spirit dynamism.  Once a summer camp for Neutral Indians.
I am attuned to them and feel their approval as we try not to intrude on the natural space and mystery here.
You are strong enough to absorb the shaman/owl encounters and benefit from them.  These experiences are
so richly rewarding,  make any life tribulations vanish.   Almost a spirit walk in this life,  keeps one connected,
as close to the truth of our connectedness to the biosphere as a soul can gain.

Much appreciation and understanding from Katherine.

                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Email from Marvin Orbach:

Hi Chris,
    Many thanks for the  fascinating description of your spiritual
side.  It seems to me that you are a unique figure in the Canadian
literary landscape. Strangely,  we must thank the Viet Nam War for
sending you back to Canada.
    In the heading of your e-mail, there is mentioned "archive
lists".  However   in the body of the missive, there is nothing about
the lists. Did they finally arrive safely?
    I continue to be amazed by your forest haiku.  They are a major
contribution to Canadian literature.
    Peace & poetry power.
    Marvin.
P.S.   Regards (woooofff) to Chase, your loyal canine companion.

                                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~