More From My Hero, Betty Krawczyk

Kids, right now I am reading a book written by one of my friends from Tofino days, Betty Krawczyk, a well-known personage throughout B.C., having been before the courts several times for passionately trying to protect the last of the old growth on Vancouver Island, as well as ecologically sensitive areas on the mainland. 

The book is called This Dangerous Place: My Journey Between the Passions of the Living and the Dead.  It alternates locales between Betty's incarceration in jail, for participating in blockades to protect the old growth (and her courageous refusal to sign an undertaking agreeing to desist), and memories of her childhood in Mississippi. Betty seems to produce a book every time she is in jail, and jokingly has referred to it as a governmental writing grant.

Some of you may recall I wrote about her earlier, during one of her court battles, in a post entitled Are You Freaking KIDDING Me?  You can check there for more info about Betty, who is the activists' secret weapon, our very favourite thorn in the side of BC logging companies, among other rapers and pillagers of the planet. Betty and I (and our poet friend Christine Lowther) were among the original Writers of Clayoquot - a writing group likely to be unparalleled in my lifetime. 

Betty has several other books out, each one wonderful, including Clayoquot: The Sound Of My  Heart, Lock Me Up Or Let Me Go, and Open Living Confidential (from inside the joint).

Last night, while reading, I came upon this wonderful poem by Betty, and emailed her to ask if I might share it with you.  Betty wrote it in prison, while she was trying to compose her statement to the judge, during that particular year's court battle, having been before six other Justices already.  (Why are they called Justices, when logging companies can rape and pillage and even get government subsidies to do so, and citizens concerned about the future of the planet get sent to jail for voicing their protests?) Here is Betty (who can STILL do the best tap-dance boogy-shuffle I have ever seen!) 

OH JUDGE OF THE MOMENT

Bestow upon us, upon the forests and streams,

the lowly mosses and ferns,

The little scurrying furry animals that make their way through the

dense undergrowth, the mice, chipmunks, martens, raccoons, and

the large ones who take up more room on the forest paths,

The bears, richly brown, with a rolling gait, yes,

come bears, bring your cubs forth,

And the wolves, who send their yowling cries out upon

the night air while they hide themselves in the bush,

And the most unseen of all, the secretive cougar,

who watches from the treetops, waiting,

And all, all, that are seen from the sky by the seagulls, blue herons,

ducks, eagles, and even the smaller birds who head for the sky, the

crows, Stellar jays, robins, starlings, yes, even the tiny flashy

hummingbirds that can hang in the air above the mountain streams,

The waters gurgling down to meet the mother,

the mother of all things, the sea,

The sea, who gave up many of her creatures to the land,

but still holds tightly to the most treasured, refusing to

give up the whales and dolphins and sharks

Along with all of the little crusty creatures that line the shores,

flashing brilliant colours under the sun or digging down into the

wet sand and who feed from the sea water and are fed upon by other

little water beings that in turn nourish the luscious fish that live

in the top waters of the mother sea and the others who are

irredescent and show their wonderful light only to each other down,

down, down in the bottom of the sea.....Oh, yes, Judge of the 

Moment, bestow upon us all your blessings and your mercy.......

I love this poem full of creatures.............Thank you, Betty, for speaking for the trees and all creatures.  And thanks for allowing me to share your wonderful poem. Sigh. I have the most amazing friends in this world!

Check out Betty's website, Betty's Early Edition, for her frequent writings on current topics. Betty has followed a regimen of writing four hours a day for most of her life, and has supported herself and her family with her writing. Not many writers can say that!