sixteen
The city finally followed you
and you have changed
as dishonest as you are
Any civilization you acquired
verdure replaced
with wild fig trees
and wild olive trees
that die
one after the other
on the altar
of taming
Archive for 20/01/2026
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Savages and Beasts
Posted: 20/01/2026 by vequinox in LiteratureTags: abuse, education, family, fear, indian-residential-schools, life, Literature, Music, procelytism, torment, writing
excerpt
The savages continued their education under the austere
eyes of their teachers who wouldn’t tolerate disobedience of any
short like water flowing in a ditch, indifferent whether dirty or
not, and these kids learned new things the Anglos thought would
turn them into good obedient citizens of an about to be formed
nation for now existing in its infancy yet claiming that it was
on the right path. Needless to underline the fact that when one
tries to harness nature one is due to fail such is the insubordinate
essence of the cosmos and such was the insubordinate nature
of these Indian children who, not only they turned obedient by
force but they also learned to dance the polka.
Indeed the dance teacher of the facility had the epiphany
to turn these brutes into the cosmopolitan Europeans just as her
societal friends were and as such no dance should be unknown
to them let alone polka. Perhaps the epiphany that struck the
dance teacher informed her that these kids could one day, as
undoubtedly as expected, dance in the famous dancing halls of
France or England, such was her fervor to prove this was possible,
needless to say that the epiphany proved to be as foolish as the
dance teacher.
And the Indian kids endured it and again and again they
tried to fit their free flowing feet in the narrow minded shoes
suitable for the dance floor, such was the lunacy of the system
which believed that a small saddle could fit on the free back of a
wild horse, or the free sky archon could be enclosed in the yard
of one and only one house, the Christian House of the Lord into
which these teachers insisted to follow their absurd goals.
“Rebecca hasn’t yet learned to tell the difference between
her right foot and her left,” the dance teacher would say for the
poor girl of fourteen whose face would turn red in embarrassment;
needless to say that the plan was doomed to fail which …
At the Restaurant
You walked by me
sweet breeze of flowing hair
light scent of your aroma
bounced between our eyes
that met mid-way, you saw me
clinking to my mate
before I tasted my wine and
wanting to claim part
of that charm, you crossed
your legs almost indifferently
under the table to reveal the line
that controls the eyes of men
I smiled absentmindedly
towards you and
you pretended you didn’t
notice though almost innocently
you played the game of Eros and
when the nightmare
will wake you up
you’ll take a deep breath and
smiling, you will think:
‘I provoked the glance
of that middle-aged man’s
didn’t I?’
Ken Kirkby, A Painter’s Quest for Canada
Posted: 20/01/2026 by vequinox in LiteratureTags: arts, Aurora Borealis, books, canadian-landscapes, Fiction, inuits, Inukshuk, life, Literature, painter, travel, writing
excerpt
percent of our country. There is much for us to learn there. We are not
a country five thousand miles long and a hundred miles deep butted up
against the American border. We were born in the Arctic. We are an Arctic
nation. North is our dream. You have not gone there, and you have not
seen the people, yet you have the unmitigated gall to call this radio station
and pollute the Canadian airwaves with your ignorant bullshit.”
With each new talk show, Ken became more abrasive. Rocco took the
painting down. Ken put it back. The public grew angrier. Letters to the
editor in the local papers were full of vitriol. The infamous painting became
the office buzz around the water cooler.
Then when the fire was truly raging, Ken put it out. He began his next
radio interview with questions. “Why has no one asked me why I painted
this? Why has no one asked me what it means? Why has no one asked
me why I’m so angry and frustrated at all these people who are calling in
with such nasty comments – people who haven’t been to the Arctic and
who haven’t understood any part of it, yet are prepared to go on at great
lengths, making absolutely nonsensical comments without the slightest
bit of information? Is there anyone out there who could ask me these
questions? And is there anyone out there who could call in – who has
been there – and tell me their impressions of that place? I defy anyone
to go to that giant place – the largest part of the second largest country
in the world – and not be utterly captivated by that land and those people.
And don’t think you can call up and pretend you’ve been there and
bullshit me, because you can’t.”
One person called and asked what it was about the Arctic and its people
that made him so passionate.
Ken explained, “It is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, populated
by the most wonderful and intriguing human beings I have ever met.
And, these people have been brutalized for a century and a half without
the apparent knowledge of ninety-nine percent of the population. I think
it’s time for a messenger. I think it’s time for voices to speak about what
is happening up there. How would you feel if the authorities came along
and rounded you up, took you out of your house, and took your children
away from you – cutting their hair off until it was just stubble? How
would you feel if those authorities sent them far, far away to a school?
The order came from your federal government to assimilate these people
– these savages – to tell their children that they were bad, and that everything
about them was bad and evil, and they had to be instructed by
force. The government, who was paying the bill with your money, contracted
the two main churches in the country to run these schools. There
are parts of this country where this story is well-known but the eyes are
averted. Those children were brutalized in unthinkable ways – not just
verbally and spiritually but also physically, and in many ways used …
Mayanaam
vequinox
Manolis 