In Pursuit of Poetry

March 7, 2020 - Mary Cushnie - Monsour - As A Child

March 7, 2020
I bought a collection of poems from a woman selling her poetry book at the Eden Mills Writer's Festival several years ago. The poet is Mary M. Cushnie - Mansour and her collection is called Picking Up the Pieces. I really like this whole collection. Her dedication is:

Dedicated to all my sisters
I am woman, hear me roar
I am woman, watch me soar.

Of all the poems my favourite is the last one in her collection. It is called As A Child. I can relate to all the poems, but this one resonates with me the most. I was that child who escaped into an imaginary world to avoid the nastiness of those around me; to avoid the adult world I did not understand; the adult world that frightened me. My imagination was my friend and to this day I turn to all the magic within that world to craft stories and poems that give me strength.

As A Child
As a child
I'd escape to my secret place
To my never world
Where no one else could venture
Without permission --
My permission
It was the world where
Fairies flitted through the branches
Of mystical forests
Where unicorns waved their horns
Spreading their magic
Throughout the land
Where bunnies spoke and
Had huge family reunions
Where dogs and cats
Romped together happily in the fields
Where cowboys and Indians
Parlayed peacefully around campfires
Where I rode upon a mighty black stallion
Across desert sands
The wind whipping him mane
And my long hair into a magic carpet
That would sail me to other worlds
Other than my own
Worlds that would immerse me in a
Pool of love
Surround me with the arms of
Courage and strength
Enabling me to become
The Warrior Queen
Who would justly rule the world
Eliminating all the
Evil and wrongdoings
Implementing
Peace and goodwill to all mankind

As a child
I'd escape to my secret place
The place
Where I, the adult
Can now go

Yes
It was my secret place
Held within the ink of my pen
Waiting
To one day
Be spilled upon my pages
Waiting to record
All the magic
That did
And didn't
Happen.


Her book can be purchased on her website: writerontherun.ca