In the Dog House

by Wanda John-Kehewin

Overview

In her first idiom-shattering book of poetry, Wanda John-Kehewin endeavours to “speak her truth,” combining elements of First Nations oral tradition with a style of dramatic narrative that originates from the earliest traditions of cultural storytelling and also keeps pace with the rhythmical undulations of Canadian poets such as James Reaney and E.J. Pratt.

However, in a contemporary setting, the magniloquent narrative of nation-building has given way to fragmentary and reflexive self- examination that is inextricably bound to a history of colonization, the residual effects of which are buried deep within silent sufferers. Divided into four aspects of the Medicine Wheel – one of many stone structures scattered across the Alberta Plains – this collection calls for us to acknowledge the blatant neglect of quality of life on Native reserves and to explore ameliorative processes of restorative justice.

In emotive and yet wryly unsentimental tones, John-Kehewin lends her voice to many forms of suffering that surround enforced loss of culture, addressing topics such as alcohol addiction, familial abandonment, religious authority, sexual abuse, and the pain of mourning for loved ones. John-Kehewin does not spare herself when relating her own stories, even as she tells the stories of others that are so like her own, admonishing humanity for its lack of conscience in poems that journey from the turmoil of the Gaza Strip to rapidly dissolving ice floes …

Wanda John-Kehewin is, as she describes herself, “a First Nations woman searching for the truth and a way to be set free from the past” – shoving aside that lingering sense of shame and stigma – taking the reader on a healing journey that reveals language to be an elusive creature indeed and one that gives new definition to what being “in the dog house” could be, if we as human beings listen carefully and learn to remedy our misunderstandings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780889227491
Publisher:	Talonbooks, Limited
Publication date:	05/29/2012
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Cree poet Wanda John-Kehewin has studied criminology, sociology, Aboriginal studies, and creative writing while attending Simon Fraser University’s TWS Writing Program. She uses writing as a therapeutic medium for understanding and responding to the near decimation of Native culture, language, and tradition.

John-Kehewin has been published in Quills Poetry, Salish Seas, UBC’s Aboriginal Anthology, SFU’s Emerge anthology. She has shared her writing on Co-op Radio and performed at numerous readings throughout Vancouver's lower mainland, including for the Writer’s Union Guild of Canada.

Read an Excerpt

Mother Thunder

I only exist if not for the Alberta storms that saved me from a life of containment.
I knew without a doubt there was hope after mother thunder shared her fire and her songs and painted a picture beyond my yellowing past;
possessing me with poverty and circumstance.

I remember mother thunders untrained beauty calling me as always from a time before,
before my eyes were open and clear and my spirit in denial and my mind locked.

I have not seen mother thunder since I abandoned the Alberta Plains in a fight and flight to see and be more than the confines of the colonial walls that seemed to wrap its arms tighter smothering me until I should just give.
The reservation does not call me home
But I am reminded of home when my
Only lonely friend was mother thunder.

I miss the crawling lightening
And the day shattering moment
That reveals the stark of night striking light
That is mother thunders child called lightning who is my friend and calls to me from home who heightens, lightens and brightens
The exact moment that the rain fingertips paint my face and I miss calling her name and feeling her gentle anger ignite my fire.
Mother thunder who makes me dance in the rain and stirs flashes of light across her cobalt canvas and drenches me in her tears and benches me in white light
I miss the plains I have abandoned…

In the Dog House

Teardrops hang from barren trees,
sickly grass slouches upon the earthly bed- defeated, disassociated.

Cold, washed out blue,
flanked by threatening billows,
encircling and encasing the dog house and the two lives buried within it.

She hunches in fetal pose in the backside of the dog house.
She counts spiral knotholes,
seizing her breath,
tracing nature’s patterns,
now forced to be a part of something else

Her something else-
Her somewhere else
She’d rather be.

She traces the knotholes and counts them over, and over again and feels a false consolation.
“Yes”, she says to herself, “still 7”

Indifferent splats of rain rap on the weather battered roof.
Thin arms embrace shivering dog.
Listening for footsteps,
she hopes they are rain beats or heartbeats,
and not footsteps.

Bone cold water oozes through the cracks,
trickling, seeking end.
She can hear the dogs’ life drum as weary as her own.
Finally, her lost breath returns
They both fall to sleep,

In the safety of the dog house.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

East

Red Warrior Woman 3

Strawberry Jam 4

BiRth 5

The Warrior Comes Out 6

A World at Peace 8

Indian Love 9

One in the Same 10

South

Mother Earths Sorrow 1 and 2 15

Luna 18

Mother Thunder 19

Twinkle Twinkle Fallen Star 20

Red Lies 21

This Moment Too Shall Pass 24

The Highway of Fears 26

West

The Gaza Stripped 33

Colonial Pest-aside 36

Torn in Three 38

Elusive Indian Creatures 40

Artefacts 41

Forgiveness 42

Psalm Bill C-31 45

North

Collective Tears of Unity 48

One Thousand Cranes 50

Chai Tea Rant 52

Pow Wow Dreams 54

Standing on Thin Ice 56

Alcohol 58

In the Dog House 60

Acknowledgements 62

The Medicine Wheel 65

About the Author 70

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Between the body & the utterance is the meaning. Read these poems aloud – as if your life depended upon it – for it does. Wanda John-Kehewin unstops our ears with her unflinching evocation of the “colonial pesticide” now threatening all forms of life.”—Betsy Warland, Breathing the Page – Reading the Act of Writing

Editorial Reviews

Her work is brave, brilliant, and relentless. Her voice deserves to be heard.”
– Garry Gottfriedson

“Playful, painful, indignant, compassionate, a new voice emerges into the realms of Canadian poetry. Wanda John-Kehewin is a smart, sharp observer, and an articulate craftswoman. Her poetry shines.”
– Joanne Arnott

“Between the body & the utterance is the meaning. Read these poems aloud – as if your life depended upon it – for it does. Wanda John-Kehewin unstops our ears with her unflinching evocation of the “colonial pesticide” now threatening all forms of life.”
– Betsy Warland, Breathing the Page – Reading the Act of Writing

From the Publisher