“It grows on trees” by Rita Bouvier
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “It grows on trees” by Rita Bouvier.
It grows on trees
By Rita Bouvier
the old Manitoba maple is a flutter of birds
chirping, growing wings.
a friend.
it doesn’t talk much, just nods
waiting for the next word to fall
out of your mind and onto the page.
it spreads its arms wide, reaching out
in shimmers of green and silver,
and long-lost memories of days gone by;
the day Matthew learned to climb,
disappeared into the thicket of its arms
to find a perfect spot to watch the world go by.
it holds a white swing on a limb
built by a woman for her young son,
so he doesn’t forget to dream.
every now and again moonlight will catch
a passer-by—a dreamer, a midnight swinger—a child;
laughter clinging in the quiet of night’s air.
Copyright © Rita Bouvier
Previously published in Heartwood: Poems for the Love of Trees (League of Canadian Poets, 2018).
Rita is a Metis writer from Saskatchewan. Her third book of poetry, nakamowin’sa for the seasons (Thistledown Press, 2015) was the 2016 Sask Book Awards winner of the Rasmussen, Rasmussen & Charowsky Aboriginal Peoples’ Writing Award. Rita’s poetry has appeared in literary anthologies, journals – print and online, musicals, and television productions, and has been translated into Spanish, German and Cree-Michif of her home community of sakitawak – Île-à-la-Crosse situated on the historic trading and meeting grounds of Cree and Dene people.
Rita is a retired educator who served in various leadership capacities locally, nationally and internationally. She was awarded an Eagle Feather from her Awasis peers, in 2006, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation Arbos Award for her contribution to the teaching profession in 2007, and the national Indspire Award for Education in 2014. Rita has contributed as researcher, editor and author to essays, reports and books on education, highlighting the experiences of Indigenous people.
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