This Accident of Being Lost
Written by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Published in 2017 by House of Anansi
In a Quill and Quire review of This Accident of Being Lost, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson describes her motivation for writing: “I wanted to present an honest reality of what it’s like to be Indigenous in 2017. I wanted to get at it from a place of grounded strength, to cast off narratives around victimhood and come at it with fire and humour and love.” The resulting collection of poems and short stories is emotional and reflective, filled with lush language and powerful images, told through a variety of modes, including text message conversations and social media. The poems found in This Accident of Being Lost are lyrics from Betasamosake Simpson’s most recent album, f(l)ight.
This Accident of Being Lost is overflowing with exquisite poetic language that weaves together references to the contemporary and the natural:
i’ll let your warmth seep into my bones
i’ll let your light strip away the dark
i’ll let your spring suffocate my winter
i’ll let you fill the holes in my bark
build me a never-ending fire
play songs i’ve already heard
tell me stories about caribou & skateboards
fill my silence with pretty words
(travel to me now)
Betasamosake Simpson takes the ready on a journey from the humorous, contemplating how many pairs of nylons Kate Middleton goes through in a year, to the heartbreaking:
This is the part I never want her to see and I know she is watching from the lake. This is the part that doesn’t exist for her. Oh Minomiinikeshii, I’m sorry. We’re sorry. We’re sorry we let them destroy so much of your body. We’re sorry we trapped you in a hurricane of guilt and shame. All you want is for us to love you anyway.
(Circles Upon Circles)
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