Like many Canadians, I write poetry! The stanzas I put together are uniquely my own. My life’s experiences, along with a little bit of my heart and soul, are definitely in the most passionate and spiritual of my works. A drug did not contribute in any way, shape or form to the poems I write. I say it with pride!
I dig Steve Earle, long may he run. His songs (the ones telling of an experience of his) and their captivating melodies can for sure get my toes to tapping and my lips to turn upwards. My face brightens with a smile! I am greatly entertained by Steve’s singing skills. Spiritually though, his songs do naught for me.
To be sure I never heard a Steve Earle song I didn’t like. Was Steve stoned when he wrote all or most of his greatest hits? What’s your guess? He said himself that the 70’s, when he produced his greatest hits, were more of a blur to him than anything else!
If Steve was stoned when he wrote his songs, does it mean that Steve without heroin or whatever other drug he ingested when writing, would not have been able to do so without the force of the drug to inspire him? Is it possible that without drugs Steve would have been just another no-name brand musician? We’ll never know the real answer at this stage of the game. Personally, I believe he would not have been as successful as he was without drugs. Less successful, too, without drugs would be the big name sports stars who take drugs to help them hit the ball harder or to push with more force so as to assure “they” will win the contest and that their opponents will lose.
“Performance-enhancing drugs”. Say the words five times. Now ask yourself if you would take a drug which assured greater success for yourself in a sport or in the writing of a song or poem? If your answer is “yes” then ask yourself if you would also be OK with the children you love, either your own or those of your family members taking a drug to break a sports record? I tremble with the heebie jeebies just thinking that many would be OK with it.
I don’t have much in the way of belongings, but what I do have, I earned it by working hard and never giving up. Drugs and alcohol did not contribute to what I have. As a matter of fact for me, a no-name brand grassroots human being, I can say that I would have acquired much more in life if not for me being slowed down by my alcohol addiction. The monetary cost of quenching my thirst for alcohol are dollars I shall never be able to recover. The damage my addiction caused me and my loved ones, emotionally and spiritually, was enormous and I intend to spend the rest of my life fixing myself by helping others. Don’t worry about me, I’ll do just fine!
Imagine a forest where deer are on performance-enhancing drugs so the wolf cannot catch them. Where birds take drugs to sing sweeter, longer and louder. Where catfish shine in the murky river waters, as if draped with flowing capes covered with diamonds. And the branches of the pines stretch a hundred feet, all made possible because of drugs. Such a forest would be unnatural to the point it would freak me out to go there!
In the natural world, things are the way they are for a reason. The weak and sickly rabbit assures that the fox will survive. The skin of the catfish is the colour of the river bottom where he feeds in peace, unseen by the pike.
I am a human being! My senses are intact. I can sit in the centre of my circle and take in the fragrances of the land. My mind allows me good thoughts and the ability to reason. My heart soars when it feels the energy of the sun pressing onto it. My soul is as one with the spirits of the forest. I smile (or weep) when the voice of Kichi Manido is carried by the winds through the valleys of my ancestral lands. I can raise my hands skyward, night or day and sing a song of thanksgiving that I am a human being. What more do I want or need?
Keep the Circle Strong,
Albert Dumont, South Wind.
