Looking forward to two years as Poet Laureate

After giving it considerable thought, I have concluded that one life came to an end for me after I wrote my first poem and another life began. It was in 1993 when I marked five years of sobriety that I wrote a poem titled, “The Path my Children Would Travel.” Five years of sobriety! “Only then,” said a friend, “does a human being become who he/she is really meant to be in accordance with Creator’s plan, after cleansing themselves in mind, body and spirit of the enormous dysfunction severe alcohol addiction brought into their lives.” That first poem of mine was like a goodbye kiss to the demons who had brought so much emotional pain and tears into my life.

You can believe or reject the notion that poetry —the putting together of words, produced by life experiences, observations or coming from the whisper of a human heart—is more powerful than any drug or alcoholic beverage. Poetry is that for me! It is the stone fired from David’s sling that made its way to Goliath’s forehead, dropping the giant to his knees. No drug nor the strongest alcoholic beverage could kill a grotesque creature. Monsters do not attack other monsters! They are allies, working together to destroy families and communities! Poetry is the oak shield I needed to defend myself against what was slowly shredding my heart into bits and pieces.

As Poet Laureate for Ottawa, I will do my best to promote what I believe in. The homeless young woman or man suffering from addiction or mental deterioration will find poetry dedicated to them in the journal I will keep over the next two years. I will write poetry touching on areas perhaps never contemplated before by any other Poet Laureate in Canada. The ignored and forgotten people of a Canadian city will have a voice in my poems. Their stories and songs will not be hidden any longer.