As in all of his poetry, this collection by Richard Wagamese is filled with beautiful imagery that truly fills the soul. Listening to his poetry I am transported to each scene and situation he paints with words. As someone who is slowly learning about my own Ojibway ancestry, I find pieces and connection with my own understandings of how I see the world. As a listener we are reminded of the constant battles and struggles that Wagamese, and so many other Indigenous peoples have faced, and continue to face as a result of colonization. These poems are a reminder that reconciliation needs to begin with all of us.

My favorite for poetry month! This is a collection of cultural tropes of the First Nations people of America and Canada - by Richard Wagamese, the author of "Indian Horse" - which my book club just read this month. Beautifully written. One of my favorite quotes:
"I'll be with you
standing at the edge of a forest somewhere
or on a rock overlooking a stretch of water
breathing and laying tobacco down
in gratitude and mumbling quiet prayers
for the joy of your becoming"

5 stars

This is a beautiful collection. I don’t believe I’ve read any of Wagamese’s poetry before now, but he really was skilled in such a range of artistic pursuits. I love that this collection seemed to have a little bit of everything; it made me feel things. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to use it (excerpts, or perhaps the whole thing) for one of my classes. I’m looking forward to sharing more of his work with others.

(I love when writers read their own work for audio versions of poetry collections; obviously, that wasn’t possible in this case, but I did really enjoy the narrator for this piece.)

Runaway Dreams - Richard Wagamese

Great Author, and a superb collection of poems.

I have always had a weakness for well written poetry. At primary school age I used to get poetry books out on loan while most kids my age and even older would read comics or cartoon strips, I liked poetry especially heartfelt poetry it just makes me smile.

A quote from one of my favourite poem from this collection..

<b>What Warriors do<b>
“I never thought I’d see myself lugging arm loads of wood through 3 feet of snow, To pound my feet at the door of a cabin in the mountains, To step into the warmth and crackle of a wood stone set in the corner of a living room with a window overlooking a lake”…..
Sounds like perfection to me and I’d “Runaway” to that dream.