Moon Rising - Cassia Tremblay
Updated: Jun 24, 2020
Moon rising over water
totems in the park
an eagle soaring highly
the soft call of signing lark
We choose to only notice beauty
see only what we see fit
I think you might agree
knowing only one dimension
while I’m preparing to live in three
There are different ways to learn
and I’ve read, and wrote, and talked
about indigeneity in shared society
But still I haven’t walked the walk
I could say that sage between fingers at the edge of juniper berries is prayer
because I’ve read it once before
But would that be responsible
or even true, or fair?
I could reflect on residential schooling
splitting culture at the seams
cascading to red dresses hung from trees
But that draws lines that are far straighter than the truth really seems
I could think about the sweat lodges my Wabanaki friends have run
or how they talk about a healing relationship with the sun
But that was on the east coast
and this is on the west
to paint with such broad strokes would be dangerous at best
I try not to make assumptions
about health, wealth or otherwise
another lived experience
isn’t mine to idealize
Open and accepting
seems the only way to be
to thank a new community
who is proving to be open and accepting of my colleagues and me
This poem was written as a reflective exercise in preparation for the First Nations Community Education Program, which is a participatory experience in cultural learning and community teachings. It probed my expectations, and their origins, prior to travelling to the northern Indigenous community of Lower Post.
Artist bio: As a final year UBC medical student, Cassia believes stories are essential to understanding and supporting the health of individuals and communities.