Canadian Spirit Voices

Canadian Spirit Voices



On Spirit Lake the voices flew 
across the coves where forests grew, 
tossing the fragrance of the sun 
over the pines where spirits run. 
Where spirits ran, they run today, 
ancestors' voices up the spruce, 
where paddlers camp but never stay 
where eagles eye the rummaging moose, 
where wolves and bears are born again 
only to see their spring cubs slain, 
where we encamped and they stormed in 
and killed the last of our last kin. 
    Can you imagine what a surprise 
    when they see clarity in our dark eyes? 

Richard Vallance

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summer haiku – mosquitoes = les moustiques

summer haiku – mosquitoes = les moustiques

our island campsite,
mosquitoes getting their buzz -
bloody hell!



terrain de camping,
les moustiques bourdonnent -
que diable ! 

Richard Vallance

The lovely Minoan Camp Stool or Footstool Fresco fragment KN 1521 X m 50

The lovely Minoan Camp Stool or Footstool Fresco fragment KN 1521 X m 50:



This is a particularly fascinating fragment. First of all, I never imagined I would ever be able to find a  picture, and better than that, an actual fresco of a Minoan camp stool or footstool. Mais une fois l’affaire cherchée, les voilà trouvés, deux tabourets exquis ! Once searched, once found, two exquisite stools! Just my luck. Secondly, have a look at the scribe’s hand. Beautiful!... especially the way he stylizes NU. Three florid variations on just one syllabogram.  For that matter, the same phenomenon recurs with RA. He must have been in love and wanted to give a least one of the footstools to his darling. Just kidding! Quite impressive and quite an impressive fragment, unique, one of a kind.