Verses
It was Told
In the time before people
the whole world was covered by water
and still before our time,
when it was neither night or day.
Supernaturals occupied the first rock
that had risen from the sea.
Our ancestors came later
They said Kaalga Jaad (Ice Woman)
hovered in front of a glacier by Deena River
our people lived and hunted in a treeless landscape
between here and the mainland
Our relatives recount the first tree
and floods and tidal waves in their time and before
It was because Raven fooled around with his uncle’s wife
that Gahllns Kun (his uncle) spun his hat and caused the water to rise
accounting for one of the floods
In another event, they were saved
by the sgils on Qingi’s hat
in another, the ones who had dogs on their rafts
were not tipped over by the bears
in another, they found salvation
in the mountains of Duu Guusd
in every instance there were lessons learned
We still carry a song of the grizzly bear
that came down on the people of Haida Gwaii
even though grizzly bears weren’t suppose to exist here
we got a story of a young hero
who slays a mountain lion near Copper Bay
which also wasn’t suppose to be here
not only we…
The Tibetans also knew about the time of twilight,
the old testament also mentions
As the raven clans come from Sgulu Jaad (Seafoam Woman),
the Egyptians and great Incan Empire
knew of a “god” called “Seafoam” in their own languages
The Hopi tell us about their people coming out of the earth
… indeed it was Nangkilslaas who stomped his feet
to call the different tribes from the earth
This was all myth, of course, comparable to fairytales
…at least until lately
as science takes a closer look at the days gone by
they debated on whether or not
these islands were entirely covered by ice during the last ice age
They have now concluded that
there was an ice-free and inhabitable refuge
now beneath the Hecate Strait
as our people said
and while we were clear of the continental ice field,
there were indeed local glaciers
for Kalga Jaad to hover in front of
They know our people were here before cedar
Now they even know the order of the arrival of plants
as generations of our people would have witnessed.
In the mountains of Daaw Guusda they found
the bones of one of the biggest grizzly bear ever
in fact several animals that weren’t suppose to be here
Science has learned that the ice age came to an end
much more abruptly than previously thought
We can now look beneath the waters at the sea floor
and realize the havoc unleashed upon our people
by the great melt waters
then as the great tundra was reclaimed by the sea.
Scientists now believe that when a meteorite struck the earth
it not only caused a cataclysmic event on earth
but also sent water and debris into orbit
creating a frosty dirty mantle
refracting light around the globe
that kept the earth from realizing night or day
Scientific theory is not very convincing however
when they try to explain why
there are seashells and marine fossils
even in the great Himalaya and Andes Mountains
and while there is now a growing convergence
between science and our histories
they may have to take our word on certain facts …
as they wonder
how the sun and the moon got up there
and while they may have theories,
they will come back to us
because it was told…
BEAST
What of the Beast
that has no head
no face
no heart within
the motherless Beast
though born of man
regards him …not
That wily Beast
It revels in our selfish desires
while guiding its makers
to their own demise
it has no guilt
as it spoils the earth
and no concern
for the sentient being
the powerful Beast
it rules the rulers
and rids itself
of those in its way
the repulsive Beast
It needs no rest
and knows not satisfaction
The elect go eagerly to its tables
to do its biddings
and reap its rewards
…or be expelled for another
to the Beast we say
…Enough
you loathsome error
you bring no peace
you bring no love
…be off with you
it is time
for living
…the kids must play