Shall I Scream at My Eyes?

Audio

O Canada's residential school 
terrors, both fresh and future, 
Which stories will our 
textbooks now feature?
Shall we scream at our irises 
to shut out the scorching lights?
though horrific beastliness 
tempts us to become stiff,
our plucky empathy compels 
us to put aside our miff
and crumple our foreheads 
to honour the hurt,
O Canada, our wailing eyes must endure 
and nurture the bitterest 
accounts of searing truth, 
we must not ignore 
any unearthed innocents 
no matter how uneasy it may be,

I button up my tear ducts - 
for now - then turn my eyes, hands and heart 
to Marvin Gaye and join his resounding, 
vein-stirring cry: save the children.

4 thoughts on “Shall I Scream at My Eyes?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *