Our warm neighbourhood gathering of word-lovers returns September 27 to celebrate the widening path as we shift into autumn, leaves begin to fall and we move deeper along on our journey in Canada toward truth and reconciliation on this weekend of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, held on September 30.
Come and share a favourite song, poem, or short tale of 3-5 minutes written by someone other than yourself. Or just come to listen and enjoy!
After Hours is a monthly neighbourhood coffeehouse with songs, stories, poems and prose on a rotating theme. All are welcome to listen or join in. Note: this is not a literary open mic. Though local authors do participate, we are all readers sharing work we enjoy and admire. We meet on the third Saturday of most months at 1:30 pm at Churchmouse Bookshop in St Mary’s, Oak Bay, 1701 Elgin Rd., and are hosted by Cynthia Woodman Kerkham and Yvonne Blomer.
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And here are some poetic tasters....
Fall Song
by Joy Harjo
It is a dark fall day.
The earth is slightly damp with rain.
I hear a jay.
The cry is blue.
I have found you in the story again.
Is there another word for ‘‘divine’’?
I need a song that will keep sky open in my mind.
If I think behind me, I might break.
If I think forward, I lose now.
Forever will be a day like this
Strung perfectly on the necklace of days.
Slightly overcast
Yellow leaves
Your jacket hanging in the hallway
Next to mine.
Joy Harjo is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold that honor.
Back in June, Cynthia read this poem, which is perfect for September’s gathering:
Reconciliation
Written by Jónína Kirton
how will I reconcile myself?
the Icelander and the métis
the settler and the
Indigenous
an ally to myself
since birth flung across a
chasm
I often wonder am I to
forever be
the way across
weak anchors at each end
my spine a flexible deck
load-bearing
and within my cables too
much tension
as some try to cross
we all swing wildly
in each other’s steps
without safety nets
the waves of emotion
threaten us all
and then there are times
that both sides seek to disown
to cut my cords
let me fall to the rushing
waters below
maybe one day I will just float away
see where the water takes me
but not today
today I will rebuild
this time no quick fixes no steel cables
or wooden planks
no rust no rot
no nails necessary
but rather the slow growth of twisted roots
from ancient trees
the way across a path
made of grandfather
grandmother stones
I will become a self-sustaining structure
gain strength over time
a living root bridge that lasts five hundred years
Jónína Kirton, “Reconciliation” from An Honest Woman. Copyright © 2017 by Jónína Kirton. Used with the permission of Talonbooks