NewFoundering Lande in 2021

 

It is the year of our Lard Jaysus,

Two thousand and twenty one.

The oceans are in distress

and boats are on more often on the rest.

This New found lande feels

floundering without its founding fishery.

 

 

You see, there are Cod;

But there no Cod.

 

The natives, still on the waters and the bays,

Claim they are privy to “plentiful” fish – as

They call this island’s  beloved Cod. 

Still, the personnel retained at the

Former Department of Cod

release another of their annual reports –

The Cod are still “low in abundance”, they

tell us, 29 years after our

Most severe outport suffering,

When the covenant of the Cod with the New found lande was broken.

 

Nothing ever got repaired after that milestone year;

Despite the many mouths that uttered the empty words:
“We are committed to the fishery of Newfoundland – we take our role very seriously.”

 

And so, in this year of 2021, people in the know

know the jig is up on the Cod.

The covenant will likely never

Be resealed as was promised for years on end.

 

Its fisher folk still embark to the bays in their swift boats

and jig a few fish – but only on Rule Days.

There are 39 Rule Days out of the entire year now

During which this New Found Lande can mend its battered culture.

 

Some brave souls take to the open line or the newspaper

to voice to their disgust and concern;

But overall, there aren’t many in this

Land left with a fighting fish spirit.

 

The courage and the determination of their ancestors have left this land

And have skedaddled amongst the dense fog in the hills.

The fishery has become a relic

of a bygone era;  and, it seems, there is no rescue mission –

not even the launch of one small dory or punt.

The natives are content to fish their 5 fish a day (only on weekends & Mondays) for 39 days

 – a miniature replica of an once grandeur culture when this land fed the world.

 

In this now New Founder Lande,

My eyes feast on the waters,

Which held so much abundance and hope;

Which shaped so many places and faces;

And I wonder if salty tears are all that’s left in the

Wild deep Atlantic ocean.

 

The promise of this Land of Fish

Was once its fishery.

It is clear that it has been

Laid to rest – headstone pending.

 

I must depart now,

For as a fishing spirit for over 500 years,

I cannot bear the apathy which haunts and hinders this

Once sacred place.

In Cod we all once trusted,

But not any longer...

 

Now, there are newer gods and false cods.

And the culture killers

bank on Cod fishing fading ever farther into the

memory of the briny sea,

which can no longer preserve one single dried fish.

 

And the New found lande soul

feels starved to the soundbone.

 

 

 

 Cod Tears

 A Cod bomb hit our province in 1992.

There are no words for that day;
nor for the 29 anniversaries, thereafter.
Only Cod tears.

Like honouring the fallen who went off to fight for our freedom,
There is a profound sadness to that day and all the remembrances.

Nearly three decades ago, a profound and dark tragedy fell across the soul of our province.
It wasn’t just a case of an ecological crime, gross federal mismanagement and a breach of a Terms of Union.

It stole lives, as incomes and lifestyles were snatched away.
It snuck in and halted centuries-old traditions.
It ripped beating hearts straight out of people without as much as a blink.
It sucked the breath out of our collective soul and unsteadied our steadfastness.
It blew over hope, toppled over continuity and claimed many victims
It crushed families and communities.
It drained outports and stayed boats at wharves.
The ocean that provided became filled with grief, loss and abandonment.
Disrespect, judgment and devaluement of our way of life clobbered our spirit.

The great Cod catastrophe
was a criminal act on our ecology and our NL place and soul.

It kidnapped our cultural brand;
And a quarter of a century later, we are still fighting to
repatriate it to our shores.
And worst still,
The Cod Tear still keep coming.

For the guardians and the keepers have forgotten their sacred mission
They don’t get our brand, they are not a fan.
They live on a canal.
How can they possibly understand?
The vastness and richness of the Atlantic and the treasures it can hold
And the food that it can bestow;
And the hope that it can reignite;
And the boats that it can launch-
Without a war or even a whimper.
And the fish magic that it can restore.

Cod Tears continue to flow because there is …
No credible Cod Plan
No Cod strategy
No Cod timelines
No Cod passion.
The crime simply continues
And without a war or even a whimper

from our very own.

Our spirit fish still struggles for abundance, hope and repatriation to its people.

It still cries Cod Tears
For how many more years …?

One thing is certain,

 a quarter of a century without Cod 

is the worst disease possible for “People of The Cod”.

Quiet acceptance and apathy by citizens like us layers the tragedy and the tears.

How much less effort would it have taken  

to write a happy ending to this sordid tale? 

Look at YOUR Cod!

 (Submission to the Federal Blue Economy Consultations June 2021)

Look at YOUR COD!

Yes, you may live in Central Canada 

- but the Atlantic Cod should be solidly on your mind!

After all, it is part of your rich national heritage.

It's the legendary fish that bought Europeans across the Atlantic Ocean 

to build this great nation of ours;

and it also fed the world. 

Further, while this mighty fish swims in the waters off the East Coast of Canada,

it is also a Common Property Resource that belongs to ALL Canadians

 - which compels all of us from coast to coast to be fish guardians.

Plus, it is a precious and vital resource to one of our most beautiful and struggling provinces 

- Newfoundland and Labrador.

Furthermore, it is a valuable resource in our Canadian Food security strategy - or should be, at least.

For all these reasons and more,

we must Look at our Cod and Care more.

But instead, 30 years after a ground-shattering Moratorium in which most fishing was brought to a halt

(July 2, 1992, in case you need a reminder); and our province lost 40,000 jobs (largest in Canadian History) & 80,000 People,

our Cod and other fish have not been prioritized for recovery

- with an URGENT Recovery Plan

Action Items & Timelines.

Yet, a recent poll by Oceana shows that a whopping 97% of Canadians

care about our wild fishery being rebuilt.

 Why? Because they know the value and morality of protecting 

a renewable resource such as the fishery and their ecosystems. 

Today is World Oceans Day - 

don't send out platitudes.

Change your attitude!

Look at YOUR Cod &

Became a FISH GUADIAN 

Btw, a young Justin Trudeau jigged Cod with his father

and the-then Premier of Newfoundland, Joey Smallwood - an experience that he often fondly recalls.

If the Cod and other wild fish are all gone in 30 more years,  

it will be too late for any child to enjoy and our nation will have lost a most valuable food resource.

You cannot be committed to Sustainability  

&  allow such a tragedy to continue to unfold. 

NL once had the World's Greatest Fish Resource  

& under Canadian mismanagement,

it was not only allowed to be depleted 

- but it took the heart and soul out of our people and province.

Does our province not deserve Fairness, Justice & Reconciliation with our fish?

Don't Blow it 

- BLUE it!

"In Cod We Trust" 

A Covid Tale| At a NL Library

“The (Virus) Shipping News”

“Come, thou Tortoise”

“The Time Has Come to Tell”

“A Whale of a Tale”

About

“Operation Vanished”

“Folks Left to Die”

By just the

“Random Passage” (of a virus)

It Became

“The Heart’s Obsession”

Just after the

“Killer Snow”

or

Snowmageddon (as it was popularly called)

Here in

“Sweetland”

“The Sign on my Father’s House”

“Unveiled”

DON’T

“Come From Away!”

Or

“Send More Tourists…”

Or it will be

“Murder on the Rock”

In

“The Newfoundland Tongue”

Seriously, by’s, these are

“Haunted Shores”

“No Place for Fools”

“Turmoil as Usual”

I’m telling ya, we’re in this for  

“The Long Run”

There’s

“No Turning Back”

No

“Escape Hatch”

“To Be Frank”

“Here Be Dragons” (virus kind)

“The Enemy on our Doorstep”

“From the Voices of Nurses”

We’re 

“In Deep Water”

“Suspended State”

“Fish out of Water”

“The Big Why?”

Dunno, but

“Don’t Tell the Newfoundlanders”

So, NO MORE…

“A Trip to Newfoundland & Labrador”

“Exploring the Avalon”

“Backpacking Across Newfoundland”

“The Day the World Came to Gander”

“Finishing School”

“Gotta Get me Moose, B’y”

“Going to the Ice”

“On Poppy’s Beach”

“The Birthday Lunch”

“Corner Boys”

“Down by Jim Long’s Stage”

“Adventures in Nanny’s Attic”

Don’t even get

“Lost in Newfoundland”

I’m tellin’ ya , DON’T Get

“Caught”

Or  be

“A Hard Ticket”

Or it’ll  be

“Time of Treason”

“Bubbly Troubly”

But it’s ok to return to being

“Maids who Brew and Bake”

“A Splendid Boy”.

Look, we’ve been hit by a

“Tsunami” (viral)

“Caught”

“Between a Rock & a Hard Place”
“Left to Die”

“Absent Friends”

“Waiting for Time” (to pass)

Public Shamers here

“Galore”

So, it’s like  

“House of Hate”

“Small Game Hunting at the Local Gun Club”

“Down to the Dirt”

“Son of a Critch”

“No Holds Barred”

“No Punches Pulled”

& many saying

“No Apologies from Me”

Overall - as is our destiny - we remain the

“Colony of Unrequited Dreams”

Still, with

“Empty Nets”

BUT, we

“Hold Fast”

In our

“Bay of Hope”

And, ironically, all this time, we lamented that

“Sposin’ I Dies in a Dory”

& “We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night”

&  “Death on the Ice”

“It’s Like a Dream to Me”

But, hopefully, soon, it’s

“Coming to an End”

Signed

“The Outport People”

(Aka ‘The Boat People”)

Otherwise, known as

“Custodian(s) of Paradise”

Or

“Creatures of the Rock”

Corona Dispatches 3| Beauty Amid the Pandemic

Beauty Amid the Pandemic


We are on one helluva topsy turvy  ride.

A global pandemic.

Countries’ health care and supplies are stretched to their limits.

People dying by the minute- including medical care professionals, like doctors.

We are either in strict quarantine; or
restricted by authorities to isolation.

Businesses, big & small, have shuttered.

Services are quieted down to the bare essentials- grocery stores, pharmacies and gas.

In Canada, over a million people have been laid off and applying for EI.

We are in our homes- some of us alone.
Our love ones cannot be visited.
Our dead cannot be properly buried.
Our sick are alone ...
Watching the news
We’re feeling the dread
Hearing about the Covid misery, its uncertainty and the number of dead.

Politicians deliver the daily dose
Of just how many are infected
and how many have succumbed.

And they warn of “dire times” ahead
Our heads are in a perpetual spin.
There is little win, it seems.

And so, I go out and about

capturing images wherever I go

The hushed harbours and the quiet streets
The “Sorry, We’re Closed” sign
The hearts and rainbows in the windows.


And oh, yes the bears. 


One evening, I catch sight of on eof these furry creatures in a small window.


Puling over, I rolled down the window and aimed my camera 
at the perfect green and yellow house
 with the stuffed creature sitting stoically in a small window.  


Since the Covid pandamania, bear hunts have emerged 
as a way to entertain the children, who have secluded at home due to school closures.


Parents gather their young kids out for a drive 
so they can tally all the bears they have caught sight of.

 
And then,  
I saw her...

Peering out from behind the white lace curtain she had pushed aside with her free hand.

A senior lady.

With a phone in the other hand.
Looking out at me, 
with wide eyes.


Was she be concerned I had stopped by her house?

Did she see me as a suspicious person?


And then she did something unexpected.

She beamed a big smile and waved her hand so excitedly at me.

I smiled back.

And off she went
back to her only social connection.
her phone.


And then the tear swelled up in my eyes

And my tummy took a little roll.

I was overly emotionally struck by this small gesture. 


I realised that the bears were not just for the children,

But for those isolated at home, especially our seniors.


They as just as delighted to see visitors 
and human beings outside their windows, 
as the young ones are to spot a bear.


Due to this lockdown, we are all in our own world. 
Many are devoid of social interactions, 
including visits and hugs that are so essential to our well-being.


Bear care "In the Times of a Pandemic"
has become a symbol

of connection for both the receiver and the giver.

Beauty does exists here in this upended world. 


-30-