Son returns
from Brazilian dreams
Misses his flights and is stranded in The Big City
.
Good thing today his sister moved into an apartment 10 mins from the airport, eh?
poem-leaving
The trucks are packed
tight with boxes and furniture.
You’re off to The Big City for university,
to earn the final credentials to begin your career.
.
Sorry to hear about the flat tire on the Coquihalla Highway, kid.
.
.
.
The Coquihalla Highway connects the interior of BC with the Lower Mainland and Greater Vancouver. It is a high mountain pass.
poem- oasis August 30, 2014
Small oasis.
Forest of calm
amid desiccating storm.
Drop of water.
Rest.
poem- fight for rights #Iwillholdtheline August 29, 2014
I will fight for what’s right.
I will demand my government obeys the law.
I will fight for what’s right.
I will stand in defence of contracts illegally torn.
I will fight for what’s right.
I will not blink when it threatens
I will fight for what’s right.
I will shout about injustice and lies
I will fight for what’s right.
I will shame them before the world.
I will fight for what’s right.
I will hold the line.
.
.
Our British Columbia government illegally tore up our contracts in 2002 when our current premier was Minister of Education. We have fought for the last 12 years against this injustice. Two provincial Supreme Court decisions ruled against the government, stating that they violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The decision demanded the government reimburse us for what they took away. As well, the United Nation’s International Labour Organization ruled against their flouting of treaties and international agreements. We are on strike because a government that acts illegally must be held to account.
The most recent Supreme Court ruling was in February, 2014. You can read the ruling here. You will see constant references to how the government bargained in bad faith, provoked strikes, and acted illegally. They are still behaving the same way, so we are fighting to preserve fair bargaining for all working people, because if they destroy us, they will destroy every union in the province. You should care about this. You should care a lot.
poem- heard
Her words
weren’t heard
His dreams
were empty screams
Her wishes
were lost in riches
His sight
was bathed in light
Her trials
left her reviled
His loneliness
was his holiness
Their relationship
let sensations slip
They tightly gripped
their well-worn scripts.
poem-irony August 27, 2014
In the US,
Girl,
nine,
accidentally
kills her
shooting instructor
with an uzi.
.
In the US,
Kinder eggs
are illegal.
.
.
poem- middle August 26, 2014
For centuries
you were either rich or poor.
You had lots of power or none.
Until the merchant class
developed.
They educated their children,
and the middle class
evolved.
Now a minuscule percent of the population
holds the majority of the wealth, and the middle class
is crumbling.
The rich fight to grab
more and more wealth,
more and more power.
They fight to destroy
public education
and the health system
with elitist ideas about
who deserves what.
Sharing is better
than hoarding.
Spreading wealth
makes society better for all.
Teach everyone.
Heal everyone.
Crime goes down.
Life improves for everyone.
The feudal system
is futile.
poem-closer August 25, 2014
Some days
I can’t get close enough
to you.
I want to wrap
your skin around me
and hear our hearts
beat, blood bound,
against each other.
Shawn L. Bird 
The government’s mess in BC education: How it affects negotiations September 1, 2014
Make no mistake. The BC Liberals have got the province into a terrible mess. It’s not unlike their BC Hydro fiasco in which years of lack of oversight of the crown corporation have led to retroactive costs that will need to be funded by sudden massive increases in citizens’ Hydro fees. In education, the problem is similar. Bad policy has led to a huge burden on taxpayers years later.
The trouble started on January 26, 2002, when Education Minister Christy Clark stood up in the BC Legislature and proudly announced the new Bill 28, which removed class size and composition limits from the teacher contract and enshrined them in law.
In effect, what Christy Clark was announcing was that the government was reneging on its part in a contractual agreement, and creating a law that prevented the teachers from ever even asking for such an agreement again.
Naturally, the teachers’ union took the government…
View original post 1,034 more words
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