By Deirdre Godwin, Program Assistant, Professional Development and Training, Faculties of Health and Human Services & Trades and Applied Technology, VIU

 

Watch, my child, and learn

Watch us stay instead of roam

Watch a camp become our home

Watch a house built up from stone

Watch our kills used, skin to bone

Watch those bones become good soup

Watch a net formed, loop by loop

Watch a fish caught in a stream

Watch it cured by smoke and steam

Watch wild beasts become our herds

Watch flocks tamed from wild birds

Watch these stones become a byre

Watch how coal becomes a fire

Watch lump iron become a chain

Watch these seeds grow into grain

Watch that grain become our bread

Watch this hole fill up, spring-fed

Watch raw wool become a coat

Watch a tree become a boat

Watch this clay become a bowl

Watch a horse grow from a foal

Watch horse and rider taught and trained

Watch the self-assurance gained

Watch a thought become a song

Watch our people growing strong

Watch, my child, then take your turn

[1] A previous version of this poem was published on VIU’s Poetree.