Old Books | The Chapel

Last night, I attended Mount Royal’s guest speaker session and heard a talk delivered by Dr. Linda Henderson on the topic, Photo Essay: Method and Memoir. She used published photo essays produced by her late sister, Janet Rose. I felt blessed to be in attendance, not exclusively because of the deeply shared session, but also because I was able to meet Shirley. I think that’s the bigger story here, but I’m too caught up in the floaters in my brain (ideas) to write about it. It’s Valentine’s day and everyone is writing about love and thinking about what they’ve won and what they’ve lost.

I opened a book of poems. Here are a series of photographs that feature some words that paint pictures…words written by Rev. Robert Aris Willmott. This book, 19th Century Poets, was given to M.J.B. with the compliments of C.R.L. in Brantford, January 24, 1900. Wowsah. I love the words in this book…the engravings…and celebrate Cathy Larsen who gave it to me some years ago.

Always…read between the lines. Pay attention to the Word Paintings!

Canadian History

Sometimes it feels like I am sitting perfectly still, going nowhere,
when I am, actually.
Sometimes the sounds outside my window on a summer’s night
are so absolutely crystal clear that I
wonder if in fact, I might be outside.

You know how some say, “My mind drifts”?
Tonight my mind drifts out the window.

I found A First Book of Canadian History
and knew that time had passed
while drifting.
Florence Lahti’s name on page 38
made me suddenly feel a longing.

I can only guess that she was the
young girl who meticulously underlined
dates and lines of significance with a
ruler.
I was once like that.

I wish now that I had penciled over
faces and written dialogue, instead.

I pull the window tight, (the sound)
covering the screen.