Collateral Beauty

 

Collateral beauty is...
sitting in a crowd in the rain,
no one leaving, as our indigenous neighbours
tell us how it was for them when they were small,
and invite us to stand with them as allies
working towards a more just world.

Collateral beauty is...
when your heart is troubled,
so you go to the shore, and let
the waves, rolling in and out 
in their eternal song, wash through
your brain, your heart, your being,
till you are as calm as the lull
between waves, as strong as
the sand dollar, that creates its home
from the sand and grit around it,
and carries it within.

Collateral beauty is...
meeting the eyes and smiles
of a people who have suffered much,
who know that you see them.
It is sitting in a crowd of villagers
in orange t-shirts in the rain, on the
Day of Truth and Reconciliation,
and opening our ears and hearts
to hear the pain and truth from which
we do not turn away.

It is seeing all the dark and light of human history
- and herstory - and noting, woven through it,
all the golden strands of beauty put there
by humans delving deep and reaching out, 
and by Mother Earth, effusively painting the sky
for our delight, by learning to truly see
that everything is one. Even us. Even we.

I penned this for my prompt at earthweal: Collateral Beauty.  Defined in the movie of that name as the moments of awe and wonder when we feel our connection to everything.

On Canada's first national day of Truth and Reconciliation, where was our prime minister? NOT attending any event across Canada, not at Kamloops where over 200 unmarked graves of children were found on the grounds of a residential school, where he had been invited to participate. He was on the beach here in Tofino, enjoying family time with his family........eight minutes away from our own march and gathering on the village green to solemnly mark the significance of this day. It was a serious misstep on his part. His words that no relationship was more significant to Canada than that with indigenous people were smooth - he is famous for that - but were revealed as empty - no follow through. His pattern. 

I sat in the rain all that morning on the village green listening to the heartfelt stories of residential school survivors from the Christie school here outside Tofino. It later operated as a healing centre named Kakawis for First Nations families to deal with their pain. I was privileged to work in that place of healing for eight and a half years.

I was outraged by Trudeau's behaviour, on a day that should be spent as respectfully as November 11th. Can you imagine if he went on holiday then? There is no difference. He could have gone on holiday next day - or showed up at our gathering, at the very least.