Qu’Appelle is a poem that I wrote while touring on the prairie. It was easy for me to do, as being in the Qu’Appelle Valley stirred nostalgic memories of home. It also resurrected the legend that all prairie children are told. Exactly how the story unfolds depends on who tells it to you and when. My version was easily written as I was thousands of miles away from my own love:
If you walk out on the prairie
When the sun is westward fading
When a gentle breeze is blowing
And you think that you’re alone.
If you walk out on the prairie
When the sun is westward fading
If by chance you hear a calling
If you think you hear a calling…
Listen carefully – do not answer
Do not stir and do not answer
Listen carefully – you might come hear
A voice call “Qui Appelle”!
The artist that I have selected to partner up with has always been a favourite of mine. Michael Lonechild was born, raised and lives on White Bear near Moose Mountain. This Cree artist is truly gifted and is but another testimony to my good fortune as a writer.
