Warmest thanks to Morna Edmundson, Bev Johnston and Elektra Women’s choir for this beautiful recording from Heart Songs of the White Wampum. This song, Fire Flowers, is dedicated to the memory of Vilupti’s house on Galiano Island, that burned to ground Sept 18, 2014. So many priceless gifts, holding memories from friends and family were lost. It was a destination for many visitors who were received with generosity and kindness.
poetry by E. Pauline Johnson
performed by Elektra Women’s Choir, March 14, 2015
with guest artist, Beverley Johnston, marimba
Ryerson United Church, Vancouver BC
III. Fire Flowers
And only where the forest fires have sped,
Scorching relentlessly the cool north lands,
A sweet wild flower lifts its purple head,
And, like some gentle spirit sorrow-fed,
It hides the scars with almost human hands.
And only to the heart that knows of grief,
Of desolating fire, of human pain,
There comes some purifying sweet belief,
Some fellow-feeling beautiful, if brief.
And life revives, and blossoms once again.