My Amelinda...(song)

words and music: larry nicholson


I lost my way but not my power
getting younger by the hour
she comes to me at night in my music and poetry

it’ s hard to fly when you’re born to run
when you’re wings get too close to the sun
we fall and we fall and get caught in this mystery

are you wicked, are you weary in your own love? -
does it bind you, do you find it sets you free?

the hard times come and go
like a shadow, like going home
to Amelinda

how does an Indian come so far?
this life I’ve built’s a house of cards
this port town’s full of road men and actors and gypsies and me

I still believe, I just don’t know
sometimes a black bird’s just a crow
but as I walked away I could swear he was winking at me

is the wilderness in your heart your own making -
did you get love by bringing love to its knees?

it’s a long road through this life
make my way to the distant sight of
my Amelinda

the only darkness in the world is not knowing
the only fear are the things you cannot see

I still love things hard to hold
like snow falling in quiet cold
like Amelinda

in my dreams and my prayers
I light candles, I climb the stairs
to Amelinda…


© 2011 Champsteen Publishing

For What It's Worth...(20th Annual Missing & Murdered Women's Memorial March)...editorial

2010 Women's March


the 20th Annual Missing Woman’s March (in East Vancouver) is many things to many people; a call for justice, a call for peace, a time to reflect or to grieve or a fleeting moment to pray that no other mother, daughter, sister, niece, aunty ever become one taken as so many have been before. I go simply to honor the ones lost and to support their families with my presence. At the end of the day I believe that each other are all we have. I feel that relatives and people I never met have prayed for me in the same way that I pray for the ones to come after me. It is a deeply held conviction that gets stronger with me as I get older. Time and experience shows there is little consolation or comfort to be found in institutions or society (such as it is) in general. If I, as a native person, cannot be counted on to provide (at a minimum) moral support, how can I expect anything from anyone else? One need only remember how last year the city of Vancouver pressured organizers of the march to postpone the event until after the Olympic party was over. It may have seemed to be something of a downer for all those more keyed on having a good time. Fortunately, the people who knew better did better and the march took place on Valentine’s Day just as it will this year. In my mind, the power in ceremony is derived from the presence and common purpose of those in attendance…it is about being there. Down here, everybody knows everybody it seems and identifying yourself as a member of a community needs to be exemplified in some active fashion. Politics and rhetoric will always find a platform at the periphery of these things but the love and spirit of the people who have lost someone to an angry and insatiable culture can’t be diminished. If nothing else, today’s march may simply be a call for grace…


© 2011 Champsteen Publishing

a little ditty for some friends...

this song is found earlier on this blog but i changed the key and taped this for a couple of friends in cowtown, celebrating the big 4-0...