Saturday, February 14, 2015

BLOCKADE

LYNN THOMPSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Union Bay, BC


August 1993 - Clayoquot Sound 

Grandmother,
I can feel you near me
as I dance and sing
with this group of women
on the road.
We mourn man's treatment 
of the earth
as, at the same time, 
we celebrate
our power.
We have a voice
and we will use it.
Our drumbeat is 
the heartbeat
of the Earth Mother.
After all the untold years
of pain and tears
that held me down,
I have risen
as an eagle 
seeks higher ground,
no more earth-bound.
I have found my voice
and I will sing with it,
laugh into tomorrow,
feel my strength, 
my peacefulness
and my joy,
along with love and pain
for Mother Earth.
Grandmother,
now that I am 
a grandmother, too,
I can hear you.




The summer of '93 saw the biggest incidence of civil disobedience in British Columbia, when thousands came from all over to protest the clearcutting of the old growth in Clayoquot Sound. Hundreds were willingly arrested, standing guard for the trees. My hours on the blockade those early mornings were among the most passionate of my life. We had a Peace Camp nearby all summer, in one of the clearcuts left behind by the logging company, and the night we closed the Peace Camp down lives forever in my memory: hippies dancing in a clearcut under a big, round Grandmother Moon. Oh, such times, kids, such times!

In the photo above, I was on Meares Island, walking the Tall Tree Trail, gigantic trees unlike anything you have ever known a tree to be. They are still there, thankfully, protected by the Nuu chah nulth people, who stopped the loggers from clearcutting Meares Island. But twenty years later, there is still clearcutting going on, most of Vancouver Island has now been logged. Corporate business as usual. 

31 comments:

  1. Wow! I am glad you are one of the Grandmothers.

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  2. we have a voice....we should use it..
    and at times it will cost us...
    but how can we deny what dwells in our hearts...

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  3. Grandmothers have such wisdom. Their voices need to be listened to & heeded. And I love that photo of you, Sherry.

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  4. "We have a voice
    and we will use it." - We can sometimes be awed by men's stupidity and selfishness. However when we consider what has been achieved by and for women in a century we can be proud.

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  5. Sometimes we have to use that voice - and it's so good it worked.. Grandmothers are to be listened to.. Great memories and pictures of you Sherry.

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  6. old is always gold and we better pay heed to the wise voice...lovely photo Sherry :)

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  7. Sherry, such passion in your protective vein to save those beautiful green giants from greedy hunters seeking personal gain.

    Wishing you a lovely week ahead.

    Poppy

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  8. Just wish there were more of you when it comes time to vote but there are so many donkeys about. But we all have voices and must use them.

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  9. I am glad if even some get saved.

    Another beautiful poem that resonates with me profoundly.

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  10. I am very pleased you found your voice...and that it came down from your grandmother through her ..and of course the trees..

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  11. That voice that finds, claims and knows is not alone in the world is what will keep the Great Mother alive.

    In your poem, I can feel the pulse of a chant that won't stop grown, that won't stop pointing at terrible truths, that won't stop reminding all of those with ears and hearts that our Green Mother is alive, and in need of our protection.

    I love this! ♥

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  12. Tears of joy from this one dear Sherry ... tears of joy

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  13. How happy you must be at that time and now, when recalling 'I have found my voice' .Sometimes it is very challenging, sometimes its cost lives...

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  14. Wonderful! You are still a beautiful protester :-)
    Well written Sherry.

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  15. Sherry, our voices must be heard as grandmothers need help upholding the light.

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  16. love the nature of your words,
    wonderfully penned verse.

    Happy sunday.

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  17. Bless this sacred passion to save the greenery, Sherry. God bless!

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  18. And I feel my grandmother every time I kneel down in the garden, pull a weed or harvest a beet. We forge values along with those memories!

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  19. This is so beautiful Sherry, I'm proud to know you.

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  20. I love listening to grandmother wisdom. Sounds like you had a most memorable time. Great photo!

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  21. I'm filled with joy at your tenacity, but sadness at the ignorance of many people. I hope all grandmothers listen to the threat against our children. Thank you Sherry for continuing to be an activist, for loving this earth so much.
    (By the way, how cute you've always been.)

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  22. So much truth and so much passion in your words. You have a beautiful soul, Sherry ;)

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  23. Strength in numbers! Amazing you've had the wonderful experience of being involved. It worked to be a fun thing!

    Hank

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  24. I am glad you were there. I am glad you stood your ground. This makes me hope that we will treasure what we have --

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  25. Being a grandmother means a lot...the cycle of life, somewhat, is fulfilled. :-)

    Mindless clearcutting is a problem everywhere in this planet. Perhaps, we're paving the way for our destruction through it. How wonderful it would be if everyone would find that 'voice'.

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  26. sweet!

    a loving heart means a lot to a small kid.

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  27. love that photo of you among the heartwood ~

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