Batoche

Here is the battleground Batoche: Fishers store,

Garnots Stopping Place

Letendes store

Francois-Xavier on the banks

of the South Saskatchewan.

Berry pickers fat on bison blood.

Fiddlers buried on the Hill:

Paul, Bertha, Henry J., Alexandra

Edgar

Octave

Marie, Belle Lamont, Antoinette

O Dieu Donnez Leurs

Le Repos Eternel    revolution of histories

MacDonald’s a hero

Au Revoir Au Ciel

Riel’s a hero

God call him home

Dumont’s a hero

Middleton’s a hero

history apostrophe

macheroes

cause celèbre

such a tapestry of

dream weavers and teachable moments

pristine powerful

much tidier now

than even

Colonel Strange’s

ducklake steps

into

high pressure

national historic

sight of Canada

experimental science

experimental poetry

you can’t see science

but that squat bluebird

Dakota blown, a warm gust

tasting Métis blood,

is poetry

Je me ferais sons