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Wonpaak

Place of still or peaceful water

Unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq

Once home to camps with sweet grass in bloom

Now home of hockey fans and history

Once home to agricultural lands and farming families

Now home of two corporatized grocery stores

Once home to horses-drawn wagons, by ones, by twos

Now home of four lanes of traffic

Wonpaak

Still place of peaceful water

Where the stony coast mirrors the past

But whose soundscape is no longer sovereign

Where bunches of geese took over the harbour

Now where you are lucky to hear the crows

Where the sound of car exhausts was diary-worthy

Now where engines, sirens, and horns cannot be muted

Wonpaak

Still water

The harbour holds shipwrecks, ghosts, and pollutants

Where landscape and soundscape shift

Where natural environment is unnatural

Is it possible I’ll stop recognizing this place as my home?

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About the Author:

Vivian Emily Lamoureux is a contributor with Written in the Waves. You can read her full profile here.