Nonetheless

 
for Winnipeg

 

Every morning, it’s the same thing: east
of where she wants to be.
She picks herself up from the road,
shakes the rust from her eyes, the old
tires and patio chairs from her hair,
and makes her way west again. She starts
off strong enough, like a rock pine

cutting through a stampede.
But by midday, her throat
is as parched as a storm canal
blazing with crickets; and the evening
shade, in the bones of all the rocking chairs,
aches within. Just the thought
of that first breeze through her
long prairie grass, brings on the shivers
of late afternoon. By nightfall,

curtains are flowing
from her bedroom windows, lighting
bathes her wooden balconies in white
and the rain and floodwaters
begin to gather in the potholes
along Maryland Street: little cups
offered to her lips
in consolation.

 

copyright 2006 Rocco de Giacomo

 
As appeared in Prism International, Vol. 45 No.1, 2006
and the collection Catching Dawn’s Breath (LyricalMyrical Press, Toronto)

Timbits

JEBUS Coming to a Theatre Near You

For those of you who haven’t heard, “Income Tax Act (Bill C-10) would allow Canada’s Heritage Minister Josee Verner, or a government committee, to deny tax credits to productions deemed offensive and “contrary to public policy.”” While the Canadian Film and Television Production Association and members of the Canadian film and television industry condemn it as censorship, Josee claims that it’s just to ensure that Canadian Tax Payers won’t be funding child pornography, because we all that’s exactly what the Canadian film industry loves to produce.

There is also speculation of the Bill being propped up by the Canada Family Action Coalition, an organization founded in early 1997 “with a vision to see Judeo- [surprise, surprise] Christian moral principles restored in Canada.” A visit to its website will bring up titles such as “Seemingly Innocuous Homosexual Promotion”, and the advocacy of bills such as Bill C537, one that would allow medical practitioners to follow their faith-based values and refuse referrals for abortions and birth control solutions.

Its president, Charles McVety, who is also the president of Canada Christian College in Toronto, has actually claimed credit for the specific provision in Bill C-10, arguing that “films promoting homosexuality, graphic sex or violence should not receive tax dollars.”

Josee says “Child Pornography”, Charles says “Homosexuality.” While it has been rumoured that Evangelical Christians have difficulty in distinguishing between homosexuals and pedophiles, it appears our present government is also unable to do so.

Scariest of all, is this little tidbit I picked from Wikipedia:

In November 2006, former Conservative Garth Turner claimed that McVety had once boasted to him of his influence with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, saying “I can pick up the phone and call Harper and I can get him in two minutes.” McVety flatly denied saying this, after which Turner firmly reiterated his claim.

Sends chills down your spine, doesn’t it? Bill C10 is in its third reading in the Senate.

 
Just Be Yourself. Stay to the Script!

All political parties in Canada provide phone numbers on their websites to local radio call-in shows. But Harper feels that their supporters need a little leg-up in the debate department and have offered “speaking points” on what to say while on air. They are supposed to pass off these little info bites as their own. There is even a “Speaking Tips” section on what to expect and how to act while on air. One tip advises the speaker to “Stay conversational – do your best to have a conversation with the talk show host instead of just reading your notes on the radio.”

No, this is not a joke. You can click here to see for yourself. My guess is that years of quoting from the Bible is a real detriment to one’s spontaneity in conversation.


ONTARIO IS IN A RECESSION!!

Or very soon. Apparently. And under the revamped equalization formula, Ontarians will soon be able to kick back and reap the rewards for years of heavy investment into the rest of Canada. Yep after years of dolling out billions of dollars to the kids, they’re gonna hafta take care of Mom and Dad for a change. Remember kids, that’s the Ultra Depends kind, and don’t spare the talcum powder.

 
Dion a Dork, Harper still a Twit.

A Canadian Press-Harris-Decima survey found Canadians view Stephan Dion as weak, uninspiring and unintelligible.

But still, they like him better than Harper. You can read the results here.

Poor Conservatives, this kind of reminds me the episode from Night Court, when Dan runs as a candidate for the state assembly and loses to a dead guy.

It’s been two years guys, and I hate to tell you (well, actually no, I don’t hate to tell you) that this is as good as it’s gonna get. If only you had a few more mega-churches north of the border…

Minimalists

The leg of a table,
the spine of a book,
the eye of a needle:

One of these
should be sufficient
to scrape a petroglyph
into a patch of skin
or etch a wound
into the landscape;
eloquence and cruelty
with a tooth pulled
from a cliché,
incidental but deep
enough that centuries
from now someone
will happen upon it
and say, here,
we touched bone.


 
 
 

copyright 2004 Rocco de Giacomo

As appeared in Quills, Vol. 11 No. 11, 2005,
and the chapbook collection Leaning into the Mountain,
Fooliar Press, 2006.