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Nanook's River Poetry | |
| Selfsame Shore |
The Grandfather Akwiten
canoe, built circa 1800
My brother, you and I have stood
upon this selfsame shore,
on our travels through the wood;
though you came long before.
I can only vaguely dream
what purpose brought you here,
to spear the salmon in the stream
or stalk the furtive deer.
I see the trail you once walked down,
where it winds through leafy glen,
though your peaceful teepee town
has long since left the world of men.
I envy not your hardship ways,
your struggle to live off the land.
Many must have been the days
when the end seemed close at hand.
And when the winter blast blew cold,
how flimsy was your shelter,
and when the summer sun took hold,
how in the heat you'd swelter.
Yet you were master of your fate
in ways more so than I today.
So sad that time should separate
two souls who walk the same woods way.
Reach out and touch a rock
Gabriel Acquin, Maliseet Guide
Image courtesy
of New Brunswick Archives
|
My river |
Hear Nanook recite this poem.
