“My People” by Donald B. Campbell
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. This June, Poetry Pause celebrates Indigenous and LGBTQI2S+ poets for Indigenous History Month and Pride Month! Read “My People” by Donald B. Campbell.
My People
By Donald B. Campbell
Part Scottish
part English
a little Welsh
Dutch
and French.
My ancestors couldn’t
stay in one place
or keep their genes
in their pants.
They are my people
by geography
by blood —the double helix
of happenstance —
but not by something
deeper.
My other people
were shadows
rumors
whispered jokes
nudges and winks
the funny uncle who never married
two old maids in one bedroom
the girl with plaid shirts
the boy who couldn’t catch
the young man tied
to a split-rail fence
in a Wyoming field
beaten and left to die
found too late
by someone who thought
he was a scarecrow.
My people had
fingers and crosses
pointed at us.
My people wore
pink triangles
then
naked and cold
tried not to breathe
in gas-filled rooms
beside Jews and gypsies
beside hundreds
thousands
millions
never enough to satisfy
history’s rumbling gut.
My people are here
will stay here
will marry
if they want to
raise children
if they want to
go to church
if they choose to.
My people are
brave are
beautiful are
blessed are
standing around me
breathing in
these words.
Copyright © Donald B. Campbell
Donald B. Campbell is a writer and English as a Second/Additional Language teacher in Saskatoon. His plays have been performed in Saskatchewan and Alberta. He is an associate member of the League of Canadian Poets. His writing—including poetry, short stories, plays, monologues and journalism—has been chosen in competitions and has been published in newspapers, magazines, print anthologies (including by Coteau Books, the League of Canadian Poets, Off Topic Publishing, and Streetcake in the UK) and online anthologies, as well as on websites (such as the Saskatoon Public Library and Syncopation Literary Journal) and on provincial and national CBC Radio.
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