Poetry Corner

Two poems by two cool people

McSweats? / Destiny Kaus

Authors: John Loeppky & Shayla Sayer-Brabant

Life Index by John Loeppky

Chapter 1: Jaundiced, half-baked, and cross-eyed, a note on how to be premature

Chapter 2: When you are saved by your family’s stubbornness

Chapter 3: They called you my sister; I called you a loveable, easy target

Chapter 4: “Why is there a comma before the ‘and,’” asked the Welshman?

Chapter 5: A family tree gets confusing when an entry is named after a fridge

Chapter 6: Hungary: A bomb under the McDonalds, a 4L of coke, a game of Uno

Chapter 7: Why must cleaning 4 litres of chugged Coke evacuated out of one’s nose be so hard to clean from another man’s dress pants?

Chapter 8: A colour-blind teacher and a red-headed dyslexic find out what it means to be intolerant

Chapter 9: #Thatawkwardmomentwhenyourealizeyouwillalwaysbedifferent

Chapter 10: Rebound, shoot, rinse, repeat

Chapter 11: The reject club’s fee is normalcy

 Chapter 12: I’ve got 99 problems but being pc ain’t one

 Chapter 13: The story of a prayer gone wrong

Chapter 14: Why Pamela Anderson and I have something in common

Chapter 15: For money press 1, for fulfillment press 2…

Chapter 16: To drain a mickey or admit she was crazy?

Chapter 17: Empty Jack Daniels bottles count as decorations, right?

Chapter 18: Sometimes love comes with wheel bearings, allen keys, and a mutual admiration for theatre

Chapter 19: If we are going to keep saying the f word, can we please learn to use it as more than a fucking window dresser

Chapter 20: How the sea of love you are travelling on can turn out to be more like a typhoon with her name inscribed across its waves

Chapter 21: …If you pressed 3, you’re a hipster

Untitled by Shayla Sayer-Brabant

The last residential school
in Canada closed down in 1996,
Just shy of two decades ago.
Since then,
We,
As a people,
Have come so far,
And that is something
We should ALL be proud of.
But we still need change!
Every single day
I see someone afraid to be themselves
Because they fear rejection.
Every second day,
I hear my culture being the center of
Jokes,
Mockery,
And discrimination.
Every week
I hear the use of derogatory and offensive names.
Every month,
I hear about someone
committing suicide
or resorting to self-harm.
When will this madness Stop?
When can our people,
Go to sleep at night
without the fear of
Being bullied the next day?
When can we walk down the street
without the pressure of harsh glares,
Open stares,
And whispered insults?
When can the starlight tours,
the phrase “to kill the Indian in the child,”
and sexual abuse in residential school
be a lesson,
and not a covered up and pretty lie?
When can we no longer live in fear of injustice?
When can the word “neechie” be true to its meaning of “friend”,
And not be used as racial slang?
When can ignorance be banished?
When can we say “Hey! I’m gay! So what?”
When can we
Stand up for ourselves,
Our friends,
Our family,
and complete strangers?
Now.
Now is the time for change!
What We need is flames of acceptance and equality
To spread like wild fire throughout our nation.
In the beginning,
Change should be like a flame
Hot and fierce
But as time progresses
OUR change should mature and become like coals
Deep-burning and unquenchable.
How do WE create change?
The answer:
The people!
WE are the change.
We are the very first spark of fire.
Every mighty flame starts with that tiny spark.
Together,
We could burn down hate.
Together,
We could burn down racial discrimination.
Together,
We could burn down injustice!
Like smoke,
Acceptance and opportunities WILL arise from the scattered ashes of change.
So, let US stand united as a people.
So, let US be the spark to the burning flame of change.
So, let US be the fuel to the nation-wide fire of acceptance.
Stand up for our people.
Stand up for our nation.
Stand up for yourself.
Be that change!
Be that spark, to start the fire.