Saying the Names With Love*

 

* (after the famous poem "Say the Names"

by  the beloved Canadian poet Al Purdy)

Say the names say the names

and listen .........

these names that forever

sing through my soul,

that came alive for me

in the forests

and along the wild shores

of Clayoquot Sound.

Bedwell Sound and Lemmens Inlet,

Fortune Channel and Sulphur Passage,

those names ring through my heart

in kinship with those who put

their bodies on the line

- and still do -

-No Pasaran!-

to protect the Old Ones

under threat by

corporate greed.

Drumbeats in the early morning

along the Kennedy River bridge

still tap tap tap in my heart

along with my passion

for the trees, for the wild shores,

for the curving slopes

of my wild spirit's home.

Hesquiaht, Ashousat,

Kakawis, (Basket of Berries),

sound and resound

in my heart,

like the marine radio

my heart was once attuned to,

fishermen repeating the beloved names

above the static,

laughter and messages

and "Choo!"

the Tla-o-qui-aht goodbye.

Wickaninnish and Rosie Bay

and Combers, Ahous Bay

where the grey whales

stop to feed....

riding out in a zodiac,

the seaspray in my face,

the eagle's cry in my heart,

blue herons on the rocks,

little puffins bobbing on the waves -

every inch of land and sea and sky

beloved.

Rain slickers and rubber boots,

the endless winter rain, and gusts of wind

that bent us over as we struggled

across the streets in winter gales,

and the wild wild roar of the waves

crashing on the shore,

while the foghorn mooed

at Lennard Light

and all the seabirds hid themselves

to ride out the storm.

Lone Cone standing tall,

and Catface Mountain,

peeping across at the

womanly slopes of Meares,

the sentinels and guardians

of our village,

orcas breeching in the channel

to our joyous shouted "thank you!"

and, across the bay,

the twinkling lights of Opitsaht,

little boats chugging back and forth

across the harbor,

heading home at twilight.

Say the name of the wild Megin River,

carving itself through root-packed shores

of cedar and salal,

and watch the wild wolves

pacing down to drink,

a black bear ambling along the shore

looking for fat salmon.

Hear the eagle's call
at Tonquin,

the waterfall singing at Tofino Creek,

or point the bow of your canoe

up the Cypre River.

Paddle hard for Browning Passage,

beat the tide,

or turn off along Tofino Inlet,

when the surge returns

to cover the mudflats.

Pull into the cove at Windy Bay.

Shelter there awhile.

Say the names say the names

and my heart weeps with love

for the otherworldly beauty

and the kinship with the wild

that lived inside my soul

when I lived there.

My heart will say these names

for as long as I live

and, when I die,

say these names over me

and bury me on a windswept dune

beside the sea,

so it can forever sing me to sleep

in my heart's home.

Say the names say the names...

cherish these wild and pristine places.

Stand against the corporations

who would clearcut and strip

these beloved, necessary

and endangered slopes.

Say the names, my friends,

before they all

are gone.

for my prompt at earthweal: Say the Names, inspired by Canadian poet Al Purdy's famous poem of the same name. I wrote this poem when I lived inland, missing this beloved place, with every name singing a song of love and longing inside me. And now I am here, so grateful. We blockaded in 1993 to stop the clearcutting. Since then, so many trees have come down due to over-development. And a mining company was eyeing Catface Mountain, to our horror. One never has the assurance that forests are safe, when one lives in an extractive capitalism society.