Home again finally!
I'm closing out my revisited posts
with this A, B, C post
first published on May 7, 2014:
I'm closing out my revisited posts
with this A, B, C post
first published on May 7, 2014:
I’ve been writing in one form or another much of my life.
Now that I’m retired, I’m finally going to write for me.
I’ve been carrying a book in my heart for decades,
and I’ve struggled off and on
with it throughout this time.
How do I get what is in my heart and my head onto paper?
I also grapple with time management and computers.
That’s why I knew better than to sign up
for the A-Z challenge in April.
Instead I wrote a short Alphabet Book for one of my books.
How elementary teacher is that?!
Its purpose was to identify personal images
that speak to me as I flounder
through the muskeg of my mind.
I’m searching for my father
in the pages of his letters written in The North.
I’m trying to honor and balance his voice with mine.
I’m searching for the truth and wondering what I can reveal.
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Dad, Louise, Roberta, Roy, Donalda, Barbara
Sioux Lookout, 1963
Attawapiskat Lake, Lansdowne House,
Lac Seul, and Sioux Lookout
form the landscape of my early heart.
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Lake Attawapiskat, Peninsula, and the Father's Island, 1961
I cannot let John, Fritz, Kokum,
Maurice, Simon, Bobby
and the unforgettable others
who moved in and out of my life, vanish.
I want to give voice to what has been lost in death.
Ray, Don, John, Sara, and Fritz
Hudson, Ontario 1976
A is for alcohol, a slow suicide
B is for bush plane, bringing everyone running
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Bush Plane ~ Norseman
Nakina, 1960
Nakina, 1960
C is for canoe, carrier of The North
D is for demons, tormenting generations
E is for education, that some seek no matter the cost
F is for fish, quicksilver flashing through mercurial waters
G is for government, and its tragic games
Parliament, Ottawa, Canada, 2012
H is for heart, hungry and broken
I is for isolation, the essence of the wilderness
J is for John
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John, Lac Seul, 1961
K is for kerosene, lighting the dark
L is for letters, unlocking the past
![]()
My Father's Letters ~ Donald MacBeath
M is for marooned, in the black bush
N is for northern lights, coloring the night
O is for Oblates of Mary Immaculate, healing the world
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Father Ouimet, Donald MacBeath,
Brother Bernier, Mr. Barker
Lansdowne House, 1960
Brother Bernier, Mr. Barker
Lansdowne House, 1960
P is for Parliament, and its politically expedient
Q is for quietude, the singular voice of the North
R is for radio, the link to The Outside
S is for ski-doo, the very first one
T is for train, and its Sandwich Man
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Train ~ Nakina, 1960
U is for unlucky, because sometimes you just can’t win
V is for voyagers, who answer the call of the wild
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Voyagers at Heart, My Brother Roy and I
Lake Attawapiskat, 1961
W is for water, running through everything
X is for xenophobia, and its cost
Y is for yearning, for even the dreamless dream
Z is for zero, above and belowThanks for your patience with my reposts
during my traveling summer.
Next time I go chasing Bucket Item dreams,
I hope to be ahead of the game!
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue