listen as I
scrape off
this useless direction,
ridiculous pontification
that went nowhere.
still chattering down to the very last depth
and when did it die, exactly?
was it something not said
aloud,
good intentions mean nothing
alone.
standing on one leg
when you need at least two, if not three
carefully constructed alternates
for the road
for life.

her head snapped back sharply
as the truth fell forth
tumbling from a reservoir
ready for redemption.
but it was too late,
the damage was already made plain
and he knew there was no going backwards in time Â…

I continued with my blade
curious,
wondering if there was more
in light of the dimming of all things
once understood,
before Sasquatch came
and ruined everything,
shadows dancing in silence
prancing and laughing
weÂ’ll never hear Â…

10/26/2008

Author's Note: Halkomelem (also Halq'eméylem, Hul'qumi'num', and Hǝn'q'ǝmin'ǝm') is a Coast Salishan language of the First Nations around the Fraser River and the southern end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Halkomelem is most closely related to Sḵwxwú7mesh snichim (Squamish), Sháshíshálh (Sechelt), and Lhéchalosem (Nooksack). In 1977 Brent Galloway of the University of California, Berkeley compiled the first grammar of Upriver (Chilliwack) Halkomelem and developed the now-official Stó:lō orthography....some words in Halkomelem "encapsulate the whole knowledge of the culture." The Halkomelem language is now near extinction and in this piece I attempted to illustrate how something, once so vital can eventually erode and fade away, just like useless directions or other ideals once held near and dear to one's heart and soul if not tended and developed.

Posted on 10/27/2008
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