#rita joe

[tepkunset]

This is Elder Rita Joe

She is the honouree of 2023's Nova Scotia Heritage Day. Rita Joe is a household name among the Mi'kmaq as a poet laureate, her most famous work being "I Lost My Talk", about the struggle of having her language stolen in residential school. Maybe you've heard it before, or maybe this is your first prompt to look it up. I strongly suggest expanding your interest to her other works as well; she has a huge poetry collection of beautifully crafted words.

[finisheachday]

I Lost My Talk

 I lost my talk

The talk you took away.

When I was a little girl

At Shubenacadie school.

You snatched it away:

I speak like you

I think like you

I create like you

The scrambled ballad, about my word.

Two ways I talk

Both ways I say,

Your way is more powerful.

So gently I offer my hand and ask,

Let me find my talk

So I can teach you about me.

Rita Joe

I Lost My Talk | Poetry In Voice

[harrypotterhousequotes]

SLYTHERIN:

"So gently I offer my hand and ask, Let me find my talk So I can teach you about me."

--Rita Joe (I Lost My Talk)

[harrypotterhousequotes]

HUFFLEPUFF:

"On the day I am blue, I go again to the wood where the tree is swaying, Arms touching you like a friend, And the sound of the wind so alone like I am; Whispers here, whispers there, Come and just be my friend."

–Rita Joe (October Song)