Halkomelem

listen as I scrape off this useless direction, ridiculous pontification that went nowhere. still chattering down to the very last depth and when did it die, exactly? was it something not said aloud, good intentions mean nothing alone. standing on one leg when you need at least two, if not three carefully constructed alternates for the road for life. her head snapped back sharply as the truth fell forth tumbling from a reservoir ready for redemption. but it was too late, the damage was already made plain and he knew there was no going backwards in time … I continued with my blade curious, wondering if there was more in light of the dimming of all things once understood, before Sasquatch came and ruined everything, shadows dancing in silence prancing and laughing we’ll never hear … Author's Note: Halkomelem (also Halq'eméylem, Hul'qumi'num', and Hǝn'q'ǝmin'ǝm') is a Coast Salishan language of the First Nations around the Fraser River and the southern end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Halkomelem is most closely related to Sḵwxwú7mesh snichim (Squamish), Sháshíshálh (Sechelt), and Lhéchalosem (Nooksack). In 1977 Brent Galloway of the University of California, Berkeley compiled the first grammar of Upriver (Chilliwack) Halkomelem and developed the now-official Stó:lō orthography....some words in Halkomelem "encapsulate the whole knowledge of the culture." The Halkomelem language is now near extinction and in this piece I attempted to illustrate how something, once so vital can eventually erode and fade away, just like useless directions or other ideals once held near and dear to one's heart and soul if not tended and developed.