‘Who remembers their names,

the ones who laughed at you’,

I said to Emily and her statue

beside the trees, beneath the stars,

on a busy street of passing cars.

You dared to be different.

You chose a different path.

While others desecrated graves,

you honoured the Sacred Totems

of First Nations with your Art.

A disrespected People then,

their Carving Art had stopped

‘midst taunting laughter too.

You saved the falling Totems

in the only way you knew,

painting by day and night

their Heritage and Spirit true.

(Shelley Audrey Wilson-

August 18, 2020)