Poem by Chuck Fraser
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
: Able Joseph
an Elder told me:
“we go to the jungle to talk around
our pain & suffering,
nobody knows our oppression.”
another middle aged man told me:
“residential schooling just about did me in
that’s why I’m an alcoholic
most of my school mates are dead
others dying slowly on the streets
you can see them at soup lines.”
suicide on the installment plan
others do it much quicker.
in the jungle we drink 35 Sherry
cheapest and most potent
that’s how we do counseling
its more effective then
baring our soul wounds to Nado (white people)
they’re still oppressors:
why don’t you get a job?
why don’t you quit drinking?
go back to school, its free!
get over it, we’re all equal!
don’t you love your children?
35 Sherry group counseling
can, for a time anyways…
dull pains & nightmares of genocide
we’re survivors of a holocaust
a man told me he can only take
the suffering of his people
for so long, rather then committing
murder or suicide he goes to the jungle
we’re loving & caring people
it’s Carrier nature
he asked his father one day
what he thought of “white people”
and their oppressive ways
he contemplated a long time
they waited patiently for his answer:
“they breathe too, my son.”
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