Description
Anne Cameron is well-known for her humourous retellings of North West Coast Indian legends - Daughters of Copper Woman and Dzelarhons. In the present collection of poetry, she enters a darker, more eerie and threatening corner of this world. "The Sickness That Has No Name" is an exploration of alienation and Indian mysticism, and of a woman's determination to live her own life.
This tone of independence in the face of male dominance continues through the entire book. The section "Mother of All" names and characterizes the goddesses and women who wielded power and received worship before the rise of patriarchal societies. The litany of names, lost power, and injustice becomes an exhortation to women to regain the strength and independence they have lost.
"Annie Poems," the last section of the book, celebrates a collection of friends, family, and lovers who have influenced the poet's life, culminating in a daughter's tribute of love to her mother. Cameron's humour, anger, and energy are in evidence here, as she describes everyday life and the actions people accept as 'normal.'
About the author
Anne Cameron was born in Nanaimo, BC. She began writing at an early age, starting with theatre scripts and screenplays. In 1979, her film Dreamspeaker, directed by Claude Jutra, won seven Canadian Film Awards, including best script. After being published as a novel, Dreamspeaker went on to win the Gibson Award for Literature. She has published more than 30 books, including the underground classic Daughters of Copper Woman, its sequel, Dzelarhons, novels, stories, poems and legends - for adults and children. Her most recent novels are Family Resemblances, Hardscratch Row, and a new, revised edition of Daughters of Copper Woman. She lives in Tahsis, BC
Excerpt: The Annie Poems (by (author) Anne Cameron)
Annie
The trouble with having a poet for a mother
is the unrealistic view of the world she gives you
Annie told me menstruation
was the weeping of the disappointed womb
Years later I said
they were probably tears of relief
and she looked at me as if life
had, again, disappointed her
Tem Eyos Ki"
Tem Eyos Ki learned love
in the waiting house
surrounded by women
and when she came back
she was a woman struck by lightning
She led the women away from the village
away from pots and pans and duties and obedience
into a forest where they frolicked with the children
and learned how love could really be
When the men sought them out
a magic dugout came from the sky
and Tem Eyos Ki leaped into it
singing
and rode off above the rain forest
She visited with the magic people
learned songs from them
At night I could hear her
and I yearned
