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?