Month: June 2026

Ken Kirkby, A Painter’s Quest for Canada

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excerpt

…where all the things that are common in your life don’t exist. Imagine a
place where the only things that do exist are things that are uncommon
to you. You will be in a state of sensory deprivation and sensory overload
at the same time. There are no trees. There are no cities. There is nothing
– but there are vast numbers of insects so pray that the wind blows. There
is almost no night. The size of the horizon is so immense that the prairies
by comparison are claustrophobic. It will just eat away at you and you’ll
have to go through the experience of feeling a bit wobbly and perhaps
teary and that’s fine. I would be worried if you didn’t have an emotional
moment or two. You would have to be completely insensitive.”
In the weeks leading to the departure day, dozens of incidents demanded
his attention. First on the list was the long-planned show at the
Ontario Legislature buildings, which was a great success. The Premier
steered Ken from group to group, demanding that Ken tell the stories that
explained the paintings – even relating some himself that he had heard so
often he had committed them to memory.
Then Ehor Boyanowsky, his voice almost incoherent with excitement,
called him. Ken must fly out to Vancouver right away for an emergency
meeting of the Steelhead Society. There were problems with the dam
project in Quebec.
He drove into town to deliver a painting to London Life on Avenue
Road, on the day of his flight. When he got back into his car, a large
cheque in hand, he heard Peter Gzowski, radio’s “Mister Canada”, interviewing
John Fraser, who was now Speaker of the House. The interview
had almost ended. “So, Mr. Speaker,” Gzowski said. “Your life seems to be
completely taken up by your office.”
“Well, it is,” Fraser, replied.
“I know you’re a fanatical fly-fisherman,” Gzowski said. “Do you ever
get to do that?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Fraser said. “This afternoon I’m getting on an
airplane to go to Vancouver and I’m going to meet my good friend Ken
Kirkby, the painter, and I am going to be honoured at the Steelhead Society
dinner. I couldn’t imagine being in finer company. I’m just delighted.
So yes, we are actually going to steal some time – but don’t tell anybody
– and we’re going to have a few meetings to talk about some problems,
which I’m sure we’ll resolve, and then we’re going to go fishing. And the
people putting this on have some surprises for us too.”
Ken chuckled. So, that was why Boyanowski had insisted he fly to Vancouver.
He knew that Ken would never have pulled himself away from
Isumataq for a mere fishing trip.
When Ehor greeted him in the baggage area, with an immense bear
hug, Ken told him that the jig was up. Ehor shrugged. “I wondered if you
might be listening to Gzowski’s program.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562830

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981073573

Straits and Turns

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excerpt

…in dogs: some of these stones, usually smooth and round most times
dissolve over time, and some other kind of stones were jagged and usually
they remained in the body for a long time, and this was the kind
Elvis had in his bladder.
“What do you suggest we do?” He asked the vet.
“Surgery,” the vet answered.
Cold sweat overtook both as they recalled that Elvis was hit by
a car when he was only a year and a half, and that resulted in surgery
to join two parts of the right side of his pelvis that were broken. The
surgeon used two platinum plates and nine screws to mend the pet’s
broken bone, and it took the young animal two months to heal and feel
good. The idea of another surgery didn’t sit well with them.
“Is there any chance the stone might dissolve?” he asked as if
begging for a positive result.
“I wouldn’t say this,” the vet insisted.
“There is a procedure of using a laser to pulverize kidney stones
for people; is this done to animals?” He asked the vet.
“Not here; I believe there is a company down south and one in
Winnipeg that performs such procedures, but the logistics of doing it
there are against you, you know, travelling, US funds, etc.”
“I see”
“What we could do,” the vet underlined, “is to put him on a sodium
diet which will force him to drink more often and with the excess consumption
of water the stone might be neutralized for a while.”
“Perhaps this is a better option,” they both agreed.
And they put the dog on that special diet. They bought the
proper food and drove home. However, when they talked about it later
and searched the internet for ideas, they decided to get a second opinion.
They located another local vet and called him. The next day, the
new vet examined Elvis and recommended a scan. They agreed. When
the scan results were known, he called them for a consultation. Something
made both feel uneasy. True enough, after his initial comments,
the vet referred to some calcification, revealed by the scan, and lined
the wall of the dog’s penis that led to his urethra.

https://draft2digital.com/book/4250839#print

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763866

Cloe and Alexandra

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Where do the poets go at night?


Where do poets go at night?
Why they saunter with bloodied hands?
Why they go up on roofs and scream?
Why they have a bandage over their hearts?
Why the letters they painfully incise in paper,
with pen, or pencil
leave light traces of blood?
Why does the swan quiver,
white and virginal,
spreads its wings and
writes its last verse?

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562908

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FPRGYMQ

He Rode Tall

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excerpt

…flashy little palomino filly, she finished in second. Tanya was
beaten by young Cody whose grey stallion left everyone in awe.
Cody and the stallion put together a run that many a horseman
would remember years later. To say that it was flawless may be
an overstatement, but it certainly was as good as they get. “Hey,
nothing wrong with second place,” Joel thought as he heard
Cody’s score being announced. Reserve World Champion
sounded good to him.
The pretty little palomino filly had done it all. She had shown
the world what she could do, and so had her rider.
Twenty horses and riders entered the ring for the presentation
ceremonies. As they were called forward to receive their awards,
Joel kept waiting to hear his name. Sitting side by side, astride
their horses, Joel and Tanya kept looking at each other every time
someone’s name was called. Finally, the announcer called the
fourth place finisher, and it wasn’t Joel. He knew that the buckskin
had a good run, but he obviously didn’t know exactly how
good it was. And then, there was only the three of them. Joel,
Tanya, and Cody. When Joel was called forward to receive his
third-place ribbon he couldn’t help but cry with excitement, but
no more so than when his young friend Tanya was called to be
awarded the title of Reserve World Champion. As they watched
Cody receive the World Championship title and start a victory
lap of the arena astride his handsome grey stallion, Joel and
Tanya directed their horses for the gate and to the holding area.
With Cody celebrating his success, Joel leaned over to Tanya and
said, “You did a great job with the little filly.”
“Thank you Joel. I appreciate that.”
Cody exited the arena and walked the grey towards Tanya.
Turning the buckskin to meet up with Cindy, Joel whispered two
words to Tanya, “She’s yours.”
Joel acknowledged plenty of congratulatory words as he
approached Cindy. Leaning forward in the saddle, he gave her a
big kiss as she wrapped her arms around him. Dismounting to
stand next to her, he looked Cindy deep in the eyes and said…

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562862

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955

Blood, Feathers and Holy Men

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excerpt

Rordan waited for an answer but none came. Ula merely smiled to see his thumb
caress the top of her hand.
Suddenly aware of what he was doing, Rordan withdrew his hand.
“My problem was with my father,” Rordan said. “He used to get the local bullies
after me just to toughen me up. Then when I wouldn’t fight with them, he’d beat me
with a cudgel. I finally ran away and travelled with a surgeon to the south of France.
I learned a lot from the Saracen doctors in Córdoba but I refused to become a Mohommedan
and had to leave Spain or be made a slave. The only way I could return
to Éirinn was to travel with soldiers, so the very life I wished to avoid was forced on
me. Still, like you, I survived.”
It was through singing that they came to a mutual understanding and respect. Ula
had a beautiful voice and their harmonies echoed through the wooded hills. Sometimes
they made up songs where Rordan would sing the first part and Ula would
complete the phrase:
Thank you birds … for your beautiful songs
Thank you sun … for your warming smile
Thank you trees … for your perfume in the air
Thank you breeze … for blowing through my hair
Thank you God … for bringing us together
Rordan longed to tell Ula of his growing love for her but couldn’t bring himself to
do so. What if she rejected him and thought him strange like Finten and the Brothers
did? He didn’t want to lose their newfound friendship. Ula also had her own feelings
of love but, for the same reason, couldn’t share them with Rordan.
After four frigid months at the hunting camp, the band moved back to their home
by the sea, convinced at last that the devil ship would not return. Upon arrival in the
village, the community of Natives gathered to build a special lodge for the White
Devils who had become Friends of the First Light People.
Through the coldest days, when muted conversations and irritating coughs grated
through the smoky lodges of the hunting camp, Brother Rordan had sat apart, whittling
a piece of deer breastbone with a small flint blade. Now he presented a Celtic
cross to Father Finten. For the first time the young poet could remember, his mentor
offered genuine praise and appreciation, acknowledging this expression of his art.
Finten raised his eyebrows, smiled, and took and blessed the cross. “This is truly
beautiful, Brother. I think your cross should stand above the entrance to our lodge,
that all may see the symbol and be reminded of our crucified Saviour.”
The cross became a meaningful emblem, not only to the Brothers, but also to
everyone in the village. When Bjorn and Ari expressed interest, Finten talked about
Christ. The two Norsemen had been exposed to Christian teachings as children but
had understood little. Finten was careful not to overstep the bonds of friendship by
aggressive preaching.
White Eagle and the First Light people had their own interpretation of the sacred
symbol and likened it to the medicine wheel, which represented the sacred number
four. White Eagle explained that there are four directions and four winds…

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562826

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763106

Kariotakis-Polydouri, The Tragic Love Story

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Modesty
I don’t want anyone to feel
the beauty I hide inside me
no one can come near it
without hurting it.
I have a bloomed lily inside me
without any shadow on its face
it has never longed for lust
nor ever anyone has kissed it.
I have inside me a rose that
balances on its own flame
and as a holocaust
it keeps silent and blesses.
I have inside me an ambivalent daisy
with its ever agreeing heart
that sways in its loneliness
and adorns its own beauty
and I have other symbols flowers
and others that intoxicate
yet the most delicate ones
bloom only in their imagination.
The beauty I hide inside me
no one ever will feel
if one hurts it a fool he’d be
and he won’t even regret it.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562951

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763459

Wheat Ears

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Visitor
Old Chevy squealed frustration
over the rough asphalt
just outside the little town he reached
at dusk.
They noticed his laughter
in the beer parlour
and at the convenience store
where he bought a pack of smokes.
Molly felt overwhelmed
when she looked deep in his eyes
and by chance touched his hand.
None ever called his name.
Who was the unknown soldier
who fought by our side
in the battle for the spring song?
Futility recommenced human history.
Unaccomplished travesty
when the next day on his way out of town
a door slammed behind him
and when they found him fallen
in the middle of the street
they knew he talked to our glorious ancestors
just one stratum below the reality of his dream.
The following Sunday
Molly went to church
dressed in her red dress
and on her golden hair,
the white scarf.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3748127#print

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKHW4B4S