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Poems by James Perry

1755
Beaubassin

1755

Suddenly they arrived into the village,
Every man and boy they wanted.Viciously rounded up and imprisoned in the church,
Encircled by soldiers, armed and angry.No one allowed to come or to go,
They were guarded all day and all night.Enemies for life they became, Each side watching the other,
Neither wanting a fight.Forced from our homes, burnt before our eyes,
Imperialism reigning supreme.Families torn apart, sons and daughters lost forever,
Transported in ships to far away lands,
Young and old together.Far flung across the world.Ill gotten property, herds and flocks.Vie Acadie Vie!Eden was not lost forever.

JPerry/2004


Beaubassin

Green grows the grass on Beaubasin's gentle slopes,
The distant cows, heavy with milk, mooing.For fisherman, farmer, baker, blacksmith and miller,
Beaubasin's life was quiet, kind and gentle.
A ship entering the harbour,
broke the stillness of the day.
St. George's emblem on mast top flying,
Bodes ill for all, for only trouble this lot could bring us.
Fly Acadie fly, the darkness is coming!The cannon roars, again and again,
The countryside quiet viciously broken.Redcoats slowly advancing,
Killing intent on their faces.Flames rising against the suns setting,
Le Loutre burning it all.Years of effort, generation passed forward,
Destroyed black in a handful of minutes.We flee into the night, half naked,
Carrying only what we can handle.Amidst cannon, lost children, fire , and chaos,
Will Beausejour welcome us all?The English victors now celebrate.
Our lands and herds are now George's forever!
Under the cross of St. Andrew, will they prosper?
Acadie is now homeless!Far flung across the world's lands.Someday we will be back together,
Brother and Sister restored to the family.The blood in our veins, will match the stains
On the ground, where lives were taken.Imprisonment, deportation or death,
For many there is not a difference.Children left orphans, parents gone forever.Destitute, desperate, hungry and cold,
The young cry day and night for succor.Yellow starred blue, white and red,
Flags fly at the border now welcome Acadie.Come home, to celebrate four hundred,
Your old lands now cry out in gladness.The split blood on the ground is now long gone.As you walk on the gentle grass slopes,
The cows distant mooing is heard once again.The future is bright with promise, Acadie rises again!God bless you, dear Acadie forever,
Amen and Amen and Amen.

JPerry/2004

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