“Whatever else, poetry is freedom” said the poet Irving Layton. Layton said and wrote a lot of things, but this is one of his more memorable lines. A corollary to this might be “Whatever else, to write poetry is to fight for freedom.” This is often forgotten or perhaps never absorbed by many who write poetry. The very act of writing proves the adage “the pen is mightier than the sword.” Bulwer-Lytton was not the only one, nor was he the first to have the thought. Its earlier version was coined by the Greek poet Euripides who said, "The tongue is mightier than the blade.” And, of course, Shakespeare, who always had something to say about everything, had Rosencrantz in Hamlet say that "... many wearing rapiers are afraid of goosequills."

 

And what happens when the writer’s tongue, goosequill, pen or keyboard goes silent. In Canada, not much because we’ve had very little in the way of engaged poetry. In other countries it sometimes meant the death of a poet and also of liberty. It meant that one battalion in the war for freedom was missing in action; not because the enemy has defeated it or the enemy of freedom has been defeated, but because it has decided not to engage in the battle. And, though it seems incredible here in Canada, in other places this battalion is essential to the fight.

 

Canada is at War! We have been ever since we went to Afghanistan. This is a big change in our military policy. From 1956 to 2005, the role of Canadian military has largely been that of peacekeepers. The role of our forces as peacekeepers was conceived by The Rt. Honourable Lester B. Pearson as part of a plan to resolve the 1956 Suez Crisis.

 

Pearson received his Nobel Peace Prize for his vision, wisdom, perseverance and skill in establishing an international police force, of which Canada’s military, was the lynchpin. It established our (and the world’s) view of Canada as peacekeepers and honest brokers.  

 

In 1988, the Canadian military shared in the Nobel Peace Prize that was given to the UN Peacekeeping force.

 

We are no longer that, these days. We are part of an international military force fighting in Afghanistan. We are fighting an ideology, a culture of repression and slavery, a fundamentalist force and supporting a misogynist and illegitimate government. Doesn’t that deserve our attention, tongues, goosequills, pens or keyboards?

 

Did you know that Quebec has the highest opposition to the war and yet the highest enlistment? Doesn’t that deserve our attention, tongues, goosequills, pens or keyboards?

 

A hundred and thirty eight Canadian soldiers have died so far, and many more body bags containing body parts will be coming back before it is over. Hundreds more are physically and psychologically wounded and they, their families and we, as a nation, will also be deeply scarred. Doesn’t that deserve our attention, tongues, goosequills, pens or keyboards?

  

We have had government hearings (almost), newspaper articles, and radio and TV debates about it. We’ve had sincere sympathies and military funerals. We even have a CBC radio drama series

called Afghanada. But from the poets, generally, we have had silence. Poetry Quebec wanted to know if we had anything to say. So we asked.

 

We have received articles from Mohamud Siad Togane: A Moslem Missive to a Jewish friend from Dr. Nanette Norris: La Guerre Yes Ma’am, from Carolyn Zonailo: Neither War nor Silence, David Solway: Poets Should Stay Out of It, Ken Norris: Thoughts on War & Poetry that range from a paragraph deep to twenty pages long and deal with the Middle East, teaching literature to Officer cadets, the Doukhobors, and observations on poetry and war throughout history. We received poems from Katharine Beeman, Julie Mahfood, Vince Tinguely, Eleni Zisimatos & Ilona Martonfi as well as from Officer cadets of Saint-Jean Royal Military College.

 

We are not so naïve as to expect a poem or essay to change the world but change often begins with a single voice reminding us that “Whatever else, poetry is freedom” and if we don’t have that we don’t have much. Doesn’t that deserve our attention, tongues, goosequills, pens or keyboards?

 

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This issue also contains book reviews and more interviews with English-language poets of Quebec. We invite readers to send us their comments about the content and format of our magazine. We know you are out there – PQ received over 25,000 hits last month – and would like to hear from you.