Review: Bellwalker
Canadian Poetry Association 2006 Poetry Competition 1st PLACE:
war musket grasses (Bay of Fundy)
I see no soldier’s uniform as I walk along these shores
but fresh blood cliffs, musket grasses,
and a labyrinth of our relics,
the unfolding of this puzzle to figure out broader picture,
as rose clashed with la fleur de lys…
like an arcane shared by a friend
who said to follow water trails
like a pirate in search of chest, as magnet speaks closer to sand…
He said many have found treasures under the sheet of their own graves.
Yet I favour its peaceful clay to dye denim & origin,
as I connect with those who fell for their flower & sleep inside
this bay of mud.
Today hooves flirt in Fundy sun,
safe & watchful over my eyes
and I wonder if that story was ever passed to their offsprings,
since man conquers on a saddle.
Come walk with me, sense a presence, their memory
dancing with tides, like a final oratory
along red cliffs & grassy shores.
Let me retreat from time & fog, as I fear ghosts & bellwalkers,
they swear the land still smells powder.
The original appeared in ‘bellwalker’ and was revamped in 2009
for the purpose of her new book titled – ‘from shore to shoormal’.
