by ~Gregg Rowe~
Purposely I search for my
roots through blacked out memories and my
existence is the quest in my question:
Heart operation, HIV and Hepatitis C –
a journey of searching my history;
past memories -- now fit in juxtaposed jigsaw
pieces, as I begin to feel whole –
yesterday’s heritage joins political present
Alberta Anglophone moves to Québec – told to go back
nineteen years ago by a Pakistan immigrant –
now I discover, my grandmother’s parents practically
institutionalized Bedford
various surnames appear in historical Québec
everywhere South in the province is Anglicized
remembrance of the Irish and Scots who
settled there – while Québec City
after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham
remained Français
yesterday’s politics becomes today’s heritage
Grand Bibliothèque du Québec : the Alberta Anglophone
reserves his spot at seven a. m. to beat
everyone -- the first Québécois qui entre la grande édifice
greatly disappointed by Madame Lise Bissonnette
guard the blue ceremonial ribbon with my heart
Author notes
Anyone who is a regular visitor to my poetry will discover that this poem is loaded in every aspect of my life from my journey to rediscover my heritage and place in society as well as my daily struggles with living with a chronic illness. There is a lot of intertexualities within the poem, but a few will have the need for a brief translation/explanation to fully appreciate the theme behind the poem. The first one is that on July 1st, 2005, I will be celebrating one year after my open-heart surgery.
Ever since I was a child, I have been drawn to the province of Québec and could not figure out the reason why except I loved to read about The Quiet Revolution that was taking place during the late 1960s through to the 1980s with the talk of Québec separating from the rest of Canada and becoming an individual State/Country within the Canadian boundaries. The creation of the political parties in the province of Quebec, Parti Québécois and on the federal level, the Bloc Québécois , to represent the interest of French Canadians and the interests of the Province of Québec were formed. Canadian politics would once again become interesting for me.
In 1983, I finally realized my dream and moved to Québec. Upon applying for Unemployment Insurance until I could finish my courses in learning French and then enabling me to find work under the French laws of Québec, I was bluntly told by an Pakistan immigrant who was working for the Federal Government of Canada at that time that I should return to my province since ‘Quebec did not need anymore Anglophones who could not speak French to migrate to their province!’ To put it mildly, I was flabbergasted by this racist remark and replied to the government worker: ‘The last time that I checked with the map of Canada, the province of Québec was still listed as a full province within the country of Canada and still had no individual status to state the otherwise that he was implying, and I was born a citizen of Canada, therefore, Quebec is the province I wish to reside in now.’ He was also fired two weeks later after I filed an official complaint against him. After that moment, I promised that I would do everything in my power to show that I am just as much as a pure laine – pure wool and hold the ethnic vote . (Parizea’s words against pure Anglophones who resided in the province of Québec during his election and to try and win the sovereignty issues--with these phrases he not only lost the election, he also lost the referundum!).
Jump to the present. Three months ago, a few things started to unfold to bring this anger back up about how Anglophones are sometimes treated by the hierarchy of the powerful elite within this province and not caring about the people who actually formed the colourful past. My cousin from BC phoned me and related some personal genealogy notes to me without realizing the information she so willingly gave me was actually a few of the puzzled pieces I was looking for to connect the dots of my past. My grandmother was born in Québec and moved out to British Columbia to teach. My great-grandparents settled in Bedford Quebec and our family practically created this rural town through our Irish roots. So by blood relation I am a true Québécois.
And now we come to the issue of the treatment of us Anglophones. Being a private citizen of the province, since 1999, Montrealers had been promised a huge architecture of a dream that would lodge all the writings of Québec under one grand library roof-six floors and four city blocks long, and it would officially be opened for the first time for the public in Montreal on April 30th and I wanted to be there to take in the fanfare of this architectural masterpiece, the dream of Madame Lise Bissonnette. A little history of this lady, which at this point is basically all you need to know: She used to work for La Presse as a journalist who is in favour of Quebec separation, a die-hard separatist to the tea! And she is the dreamer/realizer of one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Canada, a building that uses natural light and soft wood, that houses all the history of Québec writers since we were a Dominion. And I was the first one in line to enter this building on the arm of this Grand Dame. It was a media frenzy, cameras and news teams ( "Why were only French media invited to this event? I questioned"). To this day, there has been no photograph of her and I in the media, none on their website , yet photo after photo appears elsewhere of French citizens who were the first to enter the South door, or the first to enter through Berri/UQAM door, and the first person to loan out a book from the library. I ask myself if this powerful newspaper personality has manipulated the media. I was very hurt by these omissions in the Québec society, almost felt as if the French were busy writing their own history again. Because after the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was in the color of the Parti Québécoise (a pale baby blue), she handed me the ceremonial ribbon as a keepsake. Even if no photo ever appears of the two of us together, I do have one thing to remind me of this event, the blue ribbon which is around the neck of my Winnie-the-Pooh teddy bear and knowing in my heart that I consider myself a true Québécois.
www.plainsofabraham.ca/
www.bnquebec.ca/portal/dt/accueil.html?bnq_langue=en
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Biblioth%E8que_du_Qu%E9bec
Written June 11th, 2005
In a list
What did you think
Comments
1 - 58 of 58
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Being a lover of Winnie The Pooh, and being a Canadian, I chose this write to be my first...I have a new appreciation of a westerner going to Quebec to be a Francophonie now...(sp?)
You have educated me with your scribing and author's notes!
Stopping by from time to time will be an educational experience, not only of Canada, and Quebec that I appreciate very much as a province within Canada, I am sure I will learn from your skill as a poet...I am glad I visited tonight, Gregg, bon ami!
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Wonderful.
Vivid description of a complicated past, I love it. -
i am reading your work continually gregg ~ i apologise for my tardy critiquing of late
just know i am still around and taking an interest... I hope you are well
elaine
aka lucyharvey xx -
I can't imagine what it would be like to discover true heritage and know why I felt as though I fit so well somewhere... I'm happy for you to find where you belong
Shari
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A interesting write here.
I do wish you well and in 1962 my first cousin was one of the first here in Virginia to have this surgery. She is alive and doing well these days, her sister took her to the New York World's Fair in 1964 because she had done so well. I am glad that you have decided to find out about your roots as they are important to us. We all need to do that for more reasons than just finding out about our health issues. Congratulations on your surgery and surviving it and may you have many more years. -
this is nice i like it and i hope he does too
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I too have an interest in my heritage both in Europe and as a native american... unfortunately information of this type is at best hard to find. for one most europeans have to be royalty to have much background. and the native americans only kept their history by word of mouth. so maybe i will never know what my true roots are. still this was very interesting Greg!
Keep penning on one stroke at a time!
Bill
Edited on Jun 12, 5:09 p.m. because ''. -
Extreamly Exelent!!
This is very good. It has such meaning and depth! Well done. Very well done!I'm sorry about your medical difficulties and the racial coments you face. -
Good
I don't really have a lot of words for this
This peice was all together GREAT I loved it it was good and good work you did on it good luck in everything you do and all you write good luck and god bless -
I reread the poem after reading your author's comments - very, very well done. I hope you never have to face a racial remark like that again, and happy anniversary!
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bravo
this was very good, deep and interesting to read. i love that you were able to incorporate so much of your life in it, not only one small aspect. very great job, keep it up! -
wow with this piece it told a lot about its author it was deep and very personal nice work
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I didn't fully understand it but it is a very good piece this shows that you suffer but u don't deserve it and I tell u that you are definatly going to get better and this poem really touched me deep and I hate hearing things about suffering I can't even watch the news.I'm sorry I ran out of applauds
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excellent
This piece of work tells a story which poetry is too. I believe this poem has possibilities. Keep on writing your poem has alot of possibilities. I just want to read some more of your Acrostic poetry. I have dabble in this kind of writing and I think you are very good. I think I would rank this excellent. -
Ah all ends of suffering too my friend? Ironically no sex or creed and religion may bind us but the heart does. It hurts so to be a outsider, and told you do not belong here. And anger is a powerful friend.. Remarkable write and Thank You for the lesson in your life and world. Lots of Love my Wretch.. Catressa
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Wonderful
Great write! I loved the heritage to the political. I hope to enjoy much more of your poetry. Thanks for sharing. -
kinda very deep reflection.....love the way in which you put everything you wanted to say.a very impressive work n well presented too. these lines are beautifully penned:
a journey of searching my history;
past memories -- now fit in juxtaposed jigsaw
pieces, as I begin to feel whole –
yesterday’s heritage joins political present
well done! -
There is a boom of acrostics on here at the moment - but very few of them are as good as this one. It is so fluent - it doesn't seem to suffer from the contraints of the letters at all. Just wonderful!
pinkxxx -
Well-deserved write!
This is beyond impressive, I think its explorative. You captivated every element of a write just so intriguingly to possess a wonderful write. It's amazing the historical adventures that you backed up with this write and I think that's awesome. I think I had my history lesson for today and I intend to come back to see some more of this!
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a very interesting and well presented piece of your personal heritage
However being male , you need to refer to yourself as being "Quebecois" instead of "Quebecoise" with the e at the end Thanks for sharing,
Reenie
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I agree, I think this is a very deep peice, I dont think it would be truely understood if you didnt explain it though. I think its wonderful that you can put all these aspects of your life into an acrostic and not really be describing them all, just mentioning them. Anyways, Im not sure if that made sense, but I think this is a great poem, keep up the good work.
Sarah -
excelent
I don't exactly know what to say. It's not exactly a poem, isn't it? I think, I mean I'm sure it's more a reflection of you. It turned out really good. I haven't read all your author comments on this one but the master piece you gave us in here is enough. I don't know what's with all this aplauses in here, it's like I'm chocking in them, well, I'll give you an aplaud, just for therecord. Good job and please come and read at leats one of my poems, please. -
"past memories -- now fit in juxtaposed jigsaw" <<< fantastic line right there...it immediately grabbed my attention...but thats just a small part in this masterpiece of a poem...ive never seen anything like it...my hat off to you...this is truly fabulous
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This is glorious. So rich and detailed. The minute details of you are embedded in here. I absolutely adore that we explore you through this and that you are quite happy to include names and the like. Great stuff. Well done. Tony.
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this is such an interesting poem!! you must be very proud of your heritage. i love this line: "yesterday’s heritage joins political present
". great write, good luck -
wow, very, very cool. loved the word 'juxtaposed'. it was a new one and i had to look it up. always nice to learn something new, so thanks!
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Bon Soir Gregg
I don't know much french though ..but this is absolutely wonderfully charismatic.
Hope you are in best of health now.
Take care ,
God bless!!
Love Mayank
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Very impressive work here with a huge history I'm not really familiar with but would like to learn. I will return to this poem later. I congratulate you in advance for your year anniversary and your wonderful spirit of perserverance and prosperity. You encourage me every time I read one of your pieces Gregg. Blessings from CT - joanne
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WOW... Just...WOW... it very well written, i loved it. I hope to read more of your poems soon.
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This is a very nice acrostic, With a special meaning. It's good to see that everything went fine. .. I love that you told a story, This was wonderfully written, And facts seemed to be the base of it all. Wonderful job here, Definately worth an applause.
Tragedy
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Exceptional piece of work!
I am so proud of you Gregg! what you have written here is a masterpiece of heritage for you personally! Your explanation of some parts of your write have enabled to give a whole picture of what you have written about. I too would have felt exactly the same to be told by someone of a different nationality that I was not welcome there! and they say that prejduice is not such a big deal these days, do they go around with their eyes and ears closed!
It is what you know Gregg that matter most, you know your true Birthright and hold is so dear that you have been moved to write of it here.
The fact that they left the picture of yourself as the first in line to enter and to take the first book from the shelf shows their lack of a sense of what is true and real and what is what they want it to be!
Canada is a beautiful place beyond compare Gregg, I visited BC last year and the year before and I shall never, ever forget the magic of the place.
Well Done with this Gregg
special hugs for you my dear friend
~Katie~
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the more i read your work , the more i realize how little i know of the world,
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I think this has got to be the MOST incredibly well done and meaningful acrostic that I have EVER read in my entire life. Hand down, this is the top dog. What an incredible journey through life and what it means to you, even without explaination, the piece is awe inspiring. But with it, I feel as though I've been privy to something surreal and definately a wonder to behold. Absolutely magnificient Gregg! Happy Anniversary hun. Blessings Always, Gypsy
PS I do apologize for not frequenting more often, I've just realized that my favorites list must have spirt you out, as it seems to do to various others from time to time (grrr) but I shall remedy that promoptly
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Awesome!! Two thumbs up!
An amazing trilogy the quest for Karmic roots... the vivid imagery of the past and present all so adeptly conveyed here is an amazing soul-walk guided by the inner voice that compels truly, you are a torch in the path you walk may all of your passages be an oasis of inspiration as you are With deep respect and appreciation of all your works ... Myst
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Linda: I am so excited about this, my cousin is coming to Montreal on July 19th and we are travelling to my grandmother's birth place and taking a tour of the town where she will show me where all my relatives are buried. I now know that my Grandmother's maiden name was Bishop, a University was named after her family named Bishop's University and her sister's husband was the mayor of a small town for over fifty years. I am about to embark on my Québec heritage in less than a month which will balance out my mother’s history of her family living out West. All the pieces of the puzzle are finally coming together after my father's death in 1971, and I will be able to find out more about my grandmother and grandfather on my father's side soon. After everything is pieced together I am very lucky to find out I have a very exotic background: Grandparents who are Irish and Scottish from Québec, a great-grandmother who was Blackfoot from Athabasca, Alberta and a unification of more than three cultures are the mosaic of my family. At the age of forty-five, after all these years of soul-searching, my legacy is starting to make sense. Too bad it had to take a open-heart surgery to find out all this in less than a year, but at least now I know and can piece life's web together. gregg
Edited on Jun 11, 10:37 p.m. because ''. -
Not only was this acrostic a lesson in Canadian history, it is also about bigotry, antidefamation, and I am so glad that you werre able to trace your families lineage.I did an extensive search of mine, only to discover that I was a cousin of Albert Einstein.My mother had a dual citizenship, too. She also was a Canadian, living in Ontario.I am so impressed with your intelligence. The better I get to know you, the more I have come to love and respect you.May God belss you with the strength and positive attitudwe, to finish your education, and to thrive and write more poems like this!!!I am proud to have you as an adopted AP brother and friend.
Linda
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This is one of the most amazing acrostic pieces that I have ever read. I respect and admire the fact that you chose to seek out your roots and take a stand against such prejudice as displayed by the worker. I think you are a corageous person and I pray that your life will just be blessed and a blessing to others because after reading your history and knowing that you have a chronic illness you still seem to be upbeat and positive. Thanks for sharing such a great poem with AP.
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good
nice feeling. not sure which though. maybe of home but I can't tell. I've met several people from Quebec, and all were nice to me. Canadia is looking good, I just might visit in the future. -
wow, this is really, good and i can't wait to read more of ur peoms, this is something i hope i will be able to write like soon in the future, well, i will keep this short so i can read some of ur other poems, and i hope you read some of mine
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Dear Gregg,My Canadian
it's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since your operation my Friend. Well, I think your work is wonderful always, I loved the Acrostic, it was easy to read and understand, for I KNOW what you have been through and what you have acomplished. I am proud of you and you be proud of this Acrostic and how you have overcome many obstacles. It was not fair to do what they did to you, not even one Picture shown, nor any newsreels, It would've been a thrill for me (and Hugh) to see you there walking through that door on my TV screen. But be PROUD that you were the FIRST one through the door, Let your publications be placed there, it's your right Gregg, be proud of that, you've earned it!
Love from your Aussie
Joan
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And I thought MY poems had a lot of "intertextualities"... lol This is great work! You might not think that's one of your greater works, but you should still be proud of it. I can completely relate to the emotions in this poem, well... not COMEPLETELY... but I can relate rather well. You seem to have made some very important steps in your quest ofr your past, which is more than I can say for myself. I know that I am French by blood, but my faimly refuese to recognize that heritage, and I have yet to find out why. Anyway, I think that an acrostic was the best way to write this poem, good choice. It shows an organization of thoughts that might not otherwise be as obvious. Plus, it's a very artistic way to present a poem. lol I congradualte you on your open-heart surgery recovery, but I'm sure I'm not the first to say that. I'd like to say more regarding the poem, but the poem is so uniquely yours, there isn't much more I can say other than that uniqueness makes this piece all the more interesting. Good luck on your quest for your heritage, and good luck with everything else as well. Never give in, Annandhel.
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Beautiful. The incorperated French made it all the better, even if I don't understand it. Prejudice is very much alive in the world, and it's quite sad. There are many men and women like the man you encountered. I'm glad you got your bit of justice and he was fired. Thanks for sharing this little bit of your life, and then going into detail about it in your author's comments. Poetry is a way into the soul, but sometimes you need a magnifying glass to help you understand. Once again, this was wonderful.
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I haven't read a lot of your work, but after reading your author's notes, I can see that the poem is indeed a loaded one. When I read it, I thought it was well written--but now that I know how much it means to you, I say bravo, because the more layers a poem has, the more beautiful it becomes. Keep up the great work.
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I really enjoyed this piece. You have an extremely good attitude my favorite part was : Grand Bibliothèque du Québec : the Alberta Anglophone
reserves his spot at seven a. m. to beat
everyone -- the first Québécoise qui entre la grande édifice
greatly disappointed by Madame Lise Bissonnette
guard the blue ceremonial ribbon with my heart
Hugs Nicci (brokenangel1411)
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Nice peice and I can relate to it well. I have 4 friends living with chronic illness and it is just heart breaking. They do what needs to be done and like you have a very good attitude.
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very interesting! It shows very much how the person feels, leaves none of their emotions to the imagination, which is an amazing thing you have managed to capture. Good job
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This is the most loaded acrostic I've ever read. And after reading the author's insight, it's amazing...and I feel like the naive American- that there's such a dividing line with Quebec and the rest of Canada? Perhap I'm interpeting this wrong.
Oh well. Enjoyed a different style in writing. Truly enriching. -
Haley: You are right, it is not my best work that I have done, but more of a personal confessional to get rid of some overdue anger that I felt towards Madame Bissonnette to be disregarded so flippantly at an event that was so International in scope. I just hope that the book that will be written will have that the first person to walk through the doors at the grand opening just happened to be an Anglophone because that is the purpose of the mandate for this library: to be a National Library for all Québecors no matter what their language is, and at present I have questions about my publications now being housed in a Library that so openly disregarded media facts and was one-sided. Gregg
Edited on Jun 11, 12:50 because ''. -
I felt this was not your best work I've read, but enjoyed your author's comments.
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I,for one didn't realize you had open heart surgery and here it has been a yr in the past. Congratulations on your recovery.
I am in awe of your legacy...I have learned so much from your author notes and I can understand your pride upon learning what your part in this province's history was. That is something no man can take away or snatch from your heart. I most certainly can understand the anger for the injustice that's been done. I look forward to looking up your links you provided us and again thank you for a lesson in history which I wld like to include in my lessons when we study Canada. Sincerely, vj -
Ayizan: Thank you: Your quote makes perfect since and goes hand in hand with the one on my front page by J R R Tolkien from Lord of the Rings
Gregg
Edited on Jun 11, 12:42 because ''. -
A very interesting piece Gregg, as always your words have meaning and purpose, you know I wish you all the success with your journey and all the prayers I can fit into one day for your continued journey back to better health.... You are always in my thoughts................
Hugs and Love
LindaXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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im totally speechless here i dont know what to say about this write other than its straight forward, very powerful and well i know its not my place to sound offensive but keep this saying in mind through the hard times ok
it goes like this: even in the darkest of the dark, all it takes is just a small light to make the dark disappear...even if for a little while -
After reading your comments after the poem I thought the poem was very nicely written. My biological mom, who also writes, (although she is much better than me) always used to say write about things you know about. This was a lovly composition of your life and struggles and ect. Wonderfully written
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Factual, interesting, sad
This was a most interesting piece. Your narrative, which spoke of your travels, heritage and life experiences were of great interest. This did help me to somewhat understand a bit more of 'the Acrostic'. I do wish you all of the best with your life dilemmas. I am so sorry that you are having to scale some of life's larger mountains at this time in your life.
Blessings to you, My Friend......
~ Becky ~ -
i would have proably understood it if i had time to read it and wasn't being rushed to get off line form what i did understan i like the immagery of this piece is unbelieveable a little complicated but understandable i will come back on later and re-read it so that i can better understnad it
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Not usually a fan of Acrostics, however you used the form as a tool not a limitation, which is usually the done thing. What really interested me was your comments talking about your heritage and travels, which I found very interesting, and also how it filled in the gaps of the Acrostic. Many thanks for posting and brightening up an other wise boring call centre shift.
Take care
Snafu -
Poignant.
Wow. After I read the explanation, this poem became so meaningful. The poem itself is wonderful, very rhythmic without being rhyming. Always keep writing, because you're obviously talented. I wish you luck in every aspect of your life, as described by this poem.
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