Richard Doiron
“Hi Ariadne. A few notes on things…
While nothing I have done since the May World Poetry International Peace Festival could possibly equal that experience, I have kept more than a little busy since my return to New Brunswick. For two full months, now, I have worked at re-building my cabin in the forest. We have experienced the hottest and driest summer since 1965. It has been an exhausting project, one often leaving me drained, not up to par in terms of my usual prolific writing self. Still, I have managed to average about one poem written each day. There have been a few developments in my life also, one involving a proposed film documentary of me, as well as a nomination to a substantial award, with respect to my life of writing. I will leave specifics for later on these developments, however. Also, a professor from the University of Moncton has asked if I would speak to her class, even if a class might be welcome to spend time at my cabin in the woods, where potentially a weekend of literary explorations might be in the works. And there is to be some study of my writing in an Asian university. It has all been very positive. Naturally, I am more than grateful to World Poetry for having given me the greatest validation of my literary life, namely the 2012 World Poetry Lifetime Achievement Award. While in Richmond, B.C. I made lifelong friends and got to spend time with Ariadne Sawyer and Sharon, with memories made to last a lifetime.”
“For a poem, I include the following:
The Far And Greater Peace
I did not find peace in the morning
with the rising sun.
I did not find peace at noon
with the sun high overhead
I did not find peace in outside sources,
but thoughts of peace occupied
a certain portion of my mind
As such, then, I knew peace
if only minutely.
And that knowledge
was the beginning
of a far and greater peace.
For, beyond the thoughts I had,
there was a reaching out,
a hand extended in acceptance,
words spoken in a spirit of friendship,
a ready smile, a validation of others,
an invitation to share my vision,
an openness to experience
viewpoints other than my own,
and the inherent wisdom of the world.
Therefore it was that I came to know
of that far and greater peace.
-Richard Doiron
Copyright © 2012 – All rights reserved.”
Ariadne’s note: We are asking all the Empowered Award Winning Poets that were at the World Poetry International Peace festival in May 2012 to give us an update on what they have been doing since the festival. World Poetry Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Richard Doiron begins the series of updates.
The next World Poetry Canada International Festival will be April 4-30, 2013 at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
