December 10 2021: Pleased to learn that my poem "it was the land" was published in Maclean's Magazine online - "The year ahead according to poet laureates from across Canada".
THE YEAR AHEAD ACCORDING TO POET LAUREATES FROM ACROSS CANADA
Poet laureates from across the country wrote about the upcoming year for Maclean's. Here's what they had to say about 2022.
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Read more: https://www.yukonpoetlaureate.com/copy-news/
December 10 2021: Pleased that my poem "it was the land" was published in Maclean's Magazine online.
It was the land
no one knew the evil men could do
behind closed doors
no one spoke of it
no one said sorry
and in the end
it was the land
the very land itself
that spoke
it was the land
that carried the secrets
that knew the truth
that yielded a million sorrows
that stopped us like a thunderbolt
in the streets.
god forgive us
the whispers were true
it was the land that spoke for thousands
denied a life. denied a family
denied a mother tongue
and as our grief-filled days
stretched out before us
like a blanket of fear
from the land of the Mi’kmaq to Haida Gwaii
we were numb with disbelief
for it was the land
the very land itself
that spoke to us in the darkness
in the sacred smoke of our ancestors
and in the voices of our children
who whispered on the wind
guiding us
showing us the way
telling us
there will be a time
for coming together
as a nation. as a people. and as a family
to celebrate now
and lift our brothers and sisters
as never before
our tears are never far from the surface
it always gets darker before the light comes back
©PJ Yukon June 24 2021
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From Maclean's Magazine 2022: THE YEAR AHEAD ACCORDING TO POET LAUREATES FROM ACROSS CANADA
Poet laureates from across the country wrote about the upcoming year for Maclean's. Here's what they had to say about 2022.
Proud to have been featured in the live International event out of in Torino Italy hosted by Artists United For Animals to promote the protection of animals worldwide The poster reads: Happy 2022 with the wish for a better world for all our non-human brothers.
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December 7 2021: Pleased to announce I have two poems published in the New York Literary Parrot Series II Anthology! "dwight" in memory of my late brother and "it was the land" in honour of children who never returned home from residential schools in Canada.
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November 22 2021: I am sickened that thousands of animals have died in the BC floods. They didn't ask to be left in a stall to drown. Fur trapping was once considered an honourable subsistence way of life in Canada but now that the people have moved off the land and science can replicate any fabric or fur no animal should ever have to suffer and die in agony just so someone can strut down a catwalk wearing its pelt.
I am the daughter of a Yukon trapper. I come from a Northern hunter/gathering culture. They don't come more Yukon than me. I am also an animal rights advocate who has never trapped a day in her life. I don't eat meat, I don't believe animals need to die in agony for the sake of human vanity, and I don't believe the Yukon Government should be funding a barbaric event that's killed over 40 sled dogs.
Serving as an animal rights advocate doesn’t exactly make you popular, especially here in the North but I believe in honouring, respecting, and protecting the precious creatures with whom we share this planet. They are living breathing sentient beings who feel love, joy, fear and pain just like we do. We have no right to cause them even a second of pain. As a Northern animal rights advocate I stand alone. I believe we all need to speak out to make this a more humane world. Who will stand with me?
"When you speak for those who have no voice your soul smiles." ~ PJ Yukon Poet Laureate
https://rb.gy/10045d
#Yukon #AnimalRights #AnimalWelfare #SledDogs #BanFur #AnimalAbuse #BanIditQuest
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November 4 2021: Honoured to have my poem "it was the land" published in the Lothlorien Poetry Journal Volume 4 Anthology out of Leicestershire England. *Special thanks to editor Strider Marcus Jones. #Yukon #England #poetrycommunity #poetry #Canada #EveryChildMatters #ResidentialSchools https://bit.ly/3CLLlQ7
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October 26 2021:
Pleased to learn my poem "it was the land" will be published in the upcoming Lothlorien Poetry Journal Anthology Volume 4 out of Leicestershire England. *This is a photograph of me with Grandad Miller and also a special picture that was given to me by Grampa Jeff. This poem is about them too. Many ancestors will be honoured in the sharing.
October 14 2021: My new video featuring the poem "it was the land". Click on the below picture to access.
October 12 2021: My poem "because I am a sled dog" has been translated into several languages including Italian, Polish and Bengali and now translated into colloquial Welsh. *Translation by Patrick Cahill. *View the video at: https://youtu.be/Ym3IFjfiIQQ
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October 12 2021: My poem "it was the land" has been accepted for publication in LAWRENCE HOUSE CENTRE FOR THE ARTS - RECKONINGS & RECONCILIATIONS. https://lawrencehouse.ca/it-was-the-land #Yukon #truthandreconciliation
September 30 2021 First National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
I wrote this poem as I and my fellow Canadians struggled to come to terms with the discovery of unmarked graves on the grounds of residential schools in Canada. Today as we celebrate the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation may the healing begin. In honour of those who never returned home this poem is called “it was the land”. #NationalTRW #TruthAndReconciliation #OrangeShirtDay #EveryChildMatters #Yukon #Canada
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Join me at CanLitScape Poets & Storytellers JLF LitFest Toronto 2021 showcasing South Asia’s unique literary heritage & Canada’s diverse literary legacy at Jaipur Literature Festival on October 2 & 3 2021.
#Yukon #Jaipur #Toronto #Poets #Diversity
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September 21 2021: My poem "because i am a sled dog" has been published in English, Polish, Bengali, Italian, and soon to be in Arabic & Welsh. Grazie to my friend Maria Tosti for this lovely Italian translation! *You can view the original video on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/Ym3IFjfiIQQ
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September 19 2021 Best thank you card ever!
Gratitude to the folks at the Royal City Literary Arts Society. It was a pleasure to be a part of it all!
On September 12 2021 I featured at an event called Poetic Justice.
*The following post is a review of my performance at Poetic Justice on September 15 2021 written by fellow scribe Brenda Damen. When a writer of her caliber gifts you with an amazing review like this one your heart swells with gratitude. Her name is Brenda Damen and I am proud to call her my friend. #Yukon #Calgary #writers Poetic Justice
There are many reasons why I write.
©PJ Yukon August 30 2021
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August 30 2021:
My poem "reclaiming" in Farsi (Persian). Translated by Mansour Noorbakhsh.
Read more: https://www.yukonpoetlaureate.com/copy-news/
August 30 2021: My poem "reclaiming" in Farsi (Persian). Translated by Mansour Noorbakhsh.
August 28 2021: My poem "because I am a sled dog" translated into Bengali. *Translation by Mahua Das. *View the video! youtu.be/Ym3IFjfiIQQ
August 26 2021: My Song "FOOTPRINTS" translated into Greek by Eva Petropoylou Lianoy. https://youtu.be/AxzB90nVGzk #yukon #greece
Read more: https://www.yukonpoetlaureate.com/copy-news/
In 1995 I was commissioned to write a song to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the presence of the RCMP in the North. I performed the song I wrote called "Colour Me Canadian" to welcome the RCMP Musical Ride to Whitehorse on Canada Day in 1995 on their first trip to the Yukon and again on Canada Day 2017 when they returned to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.
*Video of live performance at ~~> Video Songs & Storytelling
"it was the land" Live performance July 19 2021
July 12 2021:
As poet laureate of the Yukon I am honoured to be featured at this online event hosted by Owen Sound's poet laureate Richard-Yves Sitoski on Thursday July 15th. You are cordially invited to join us at https://www.facebook.com/events/994537597963812/
~ pj johnson Yukon #PoetLaureate of the #Yukon
Read more: https://www.yukonpoetlaureate.com/copy-news/
July 12 2021: As poet laureate of the Yukon I am honoured to be featured at this online event hosted by Owen Sound's poet laureate Richard-Yves Sitoski on Thursday July 15th.PJ Yukon #PoetLaureate #Yukon
Canada Day 2021: Twenty-seven years ago today I was invested as Canada's first poet laureate. It was a happy day. Canada Day July 1st 2021 is very different. It is the recognition of my country’s 153rd anniversary combined with a day of deep reflection as I and my fellow Canadians struggle to come to terms with the ongoing discovery of unmarked graves on the grounds of residential schools in Canada. In honour of those who never returned home I have written a poem called "it was the land".
#Yukon #Canada #EveryChildMatters #ResidentialSchools #CanadaDay2021
it was the land
no one knew the evil men could do
behind closed doors
no one spoke of it
no one said sorry
and in the end
it was the land
the very land itself
that spoke
it was the land
that carried the secrets
that knew the truth
that yielded a million sorrows
that stopped us like a thunderbolt
in the streets.
god forgive us
the whispers were true
it was the land that spoke for thousands
denied a life. denied a family
denied a mother tongue
and as our grief-filled days
stretched out before us
like a blanket of fear
from the land of the Mi’kmaq to Haida Gwaii
we were numb with disbelief
for it was the land
the very land itself
that spoke to us in the darkness
in the sacred smoke of our ancestors
and in the voices of our children
who whispered on the wind
guiding us
showing us the way
telling us
there will be a time
for coming together
as a nation. as a people. and as a family
to celebrate now
and lift our brothers and sisters
as never before
our tears are never far from the surface
it always gets darker before the light comes back
©PJ Yukon June 24 2021
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The arrival of Europeans in North America was a shock to indigenous people who had little resistance to diseases like tuberculosis and alcohol. When you take the people off the land and put them into foster homes and residential schools you get disaster. The trauma is generational and it affects my family.
I wrote this poem as an adaptation to an old Irish nursery rhyme called “Ten Little Indians” to reflect the decimation of a nation in the wake of the arrival of the Europeans in North America and the devastating effect that it had on people of Yukon First Nations ancestry who were mistakenly referred to as ‘Indians’. As a young person I saw far too much of this.
10 little indians
10 little indians
standing in a line
one went off to mission school
and then there were 9
9 little indians
fishing by a lake
one got tuberculosis
and then there were 8
8 little indians
pray to go to heaven
one got into alcohol
and then there were 7
7 little indians
living in the sticks
someone sniffed an aerosol
and then there were 6
6 little indians
tannin’ beaver hides
someone scored some heroin
and then there were 5
5 little indians
standing in a store
someone got arrested
then there were 4
4 little indians
wishing they were free
someone shouted “AWOL!”
then there were 3
3 little indians
wonderin’ what to do
someone pulled a switchblade
and then there were 2
2 little indians
broke and on the run
someone called the cops up
and then there was 1
1 little indian
staring at the wall
someone heard a wolf howl
now there’s none at all
©PJ Yukon August 24 1993
June 21 2021: A poem in celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day from the Land of the Wolf & Crow. #Yukon #Solstice #FirstNations #Canada #IndigenousPeoplesDay
June 14 2021: I was recently honoured to be featured on the 100th episode of the New York Parrot Literary Corner along with host Dustin Pickering.
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Dandelion Seeds ©PJ Yukon1993
somewhere in a rundown part of town
she sits and softly strums an old guitar
and her face is lined and wrinkled
and the wind is at the door
and she thinks about the past
and then she sings
o little boy please
don't cry in the night
don't cry in the night for me
though i cannot be with you
god knows how i miss you
i'm lost on the wind like a weed
blown away like a dandelion seed
i remember the day
and the sun and the sand
and the chill of a cool north wind
and the weed gone to seed
that you plucked from the reeds
to clutch in your little boy hands
o the glow in your eyes
as you sat by my side
with your treasure held high in the wind
as the spores soft and white
in the breezes took flight
and never came back again
o little boy please
don't cry in the night
don't cry in the night for me
though i cannot be with you
god knows how i miss you
i'm lost on the wind like a weed
blown away like a dandelion seed
and somewhere in another little town
he holds a faded picture in his hand
and his face is lined with raindrops
and the wind is in his hair
and he looks across the mountains
and he says:
wherever you are
please don't cry in the night
don't cry in the night for me
for god knows i've missed you
someday i'll be with you
blown home on the wind like a weed
i'll fly home like a dandelion seed
yes i'll come home on the wind like a weed
i'll fly home like a dandelion seed
©PJ Yukon1993
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From the book "it's howlin' time!" amzn.to/3fW64HS
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June 3 2021:
Sometimes there just aren't enough tears. #kamloops #allchildrenmatter #yukon
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Remembering Former Yukon Commissioner Doug Bell
I was sad to learn of the recent passing of my good friend former Yukon Commissioner Doug Bell. In 1985 he invited me to sit at his desk and sign a copy of my first little book “I Sing Yukon” and sent it to Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne. Commissioner Bell later received a message back from the palace thanking ‘Mr P. Johnson’ for the book. Doug and I had a good laugh. No one gets my name right! R.I.P. my friend. Thank you for your service. #yukon
April 21 2021: Land of the Wolf and Crow
Inspired by well-known and greatly respected Yukon elder Elijah Smith’s long struggle to bring about a Yukon native land claim settlement, I wrote this poem in 1986. I called it “reclaiming” because you cannot claim something that is already yours. You can only reclaim it. The final land claims agreement was signed seven years later in 1993. *Published in Dan Sha Magazine in 1988.
In the Yukon there are two first nations clans – the Wolf Clan and the Crow Clan so the Yukon is sometimes called Land of the Wolf and Crow. Raven (crow) is my spirit guide and I am also known as the Yukon Raven Lady.
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Rhymes of the Raven Lady was basically a reprint of my first book "I Sing Yukon" published in 1984. The cover, painted prior to my investiture by William C. Sinclair, hence no official insignia on my Stetson, portrays Wolf & Crow (raven) representing the two Yukon First Nations clans. I'm also known as the Yukon Raven Lady. #yukon #worldpoetrymonth #poetrycommunity
IN HONOUR OF NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
A rare photograph of my investiture in Whitehorse on Canada Day July 1st 1994 when I became the first Canadian poet laureate - standing behind former Yukon Commissioner John Kenneth McKinnon as he reads the official proclamation naming me Poet Laureate of the Yukon. Audrey McLaughlin, former leader of the NDP (seated) also presented me with my personal symbol of office the carved Talking Stick.
The Cerimony
Leaving the stage carrying the Talking Stick
I MAY BE THE DAUGHTER OF A YUKON TRAPPER BUT....
Queen Elizabeth set a great example when she quit wearing fur in 2019. I am the daughter of a Yukon trapper but I have never trapped a day in my life. In today's world no animal should ever have to suffer and die just so someone can walk down a catwalk wearing its dead pelt.
#yukon #animalrights #allbeingsmatter #banfur
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FREEDOM OF SPEECH? CENSORSHIP? FACEBOOK? Anyone wishing to sign the petition opposing the ban on my website please click here ~~>
www.change.org/p/facebook-facebook-is-banning-the-yukon-poet-laureate
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March 23 2021 Canadian Poets Laureate speak out for the protection of old-growth forests. I am honoured to be a part of this. There is a better way.
March 21 2021: In honour of World Poetry Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Racism ~ "dwight" a poem by PJ Yukon Poet Laureate. *Click the pic to hear the poem.
March 14 2021: Sincere thanks for the many birthday messages! My inbox is overflowing. Navigating Messenger can be difficult due to my NVLD but it's clear that while I may not have a ton of money I am rich in friends! ~ PJ & Doc waving from the Yukon! #yukon #gratitude #thankyou
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Read more: https://www.yukonpoetlaureate.com/copy-news/
March 13 2021: *The portrait behind Doc & I was painted by Yukon artist William C. Sinclair prior to my investiture as Poet Laureate of the Yukon on July 1st 1994 - hence my Stetson bears no official insignia pin. *Today as I celebrate another trip around the sun I ask friends to make a donation to the petition to protect the Northern sled dogs. Thank You. ~~> https://bit.ly/3vie4IW <~~
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An Interview on CIUT FM Featuring PJ Yukon Poet Laureate.
January 1 2021: Songwriters are some of the most accomplished poets and Canada has some of the finest.
Poetry requires a precision of the written word while music is a universal expression of spirit.
When put together you get magic. Let us celebrate the writers of song who bring us light.
the writers of song
today i celebrate the artists
who bring us new hope
and help us to keep hope alive
when we need it the most
the crafters of words and music
that move us to celebrate liberate and venerate
who speak for us when we have no words
and give us words to speak when we need them
who show us how to grieve and share our hearts
and when to speak and when to be silent
how to laugh and when to cry
when to sing and how to fly
these are the makers of the songs that paint our lives
and gift us with sweet memories
that fill our hearts when they are empty
and show us how to fall in love
these are the maestros
the weavers of story the healers of hearts
some of the finest poets who ever dared
to pick up a pen
they are the writers of song
and i salute them
please join me
©PJ Yukon Poet Laureate
December 31 2020
