Jónína Kirton's Standing in a River of Time blends poetry and prose to examine pain, healing & moving forward
'Poetry, for me, is medicine. Poetry is its own language'
Jónína Kirton is a Métis author and poet from Portage la Prairie, Man. Her 2018 poetry collection, An Honest Woman, was a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Kirton currently lives in the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples, where she teaches at The Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University.
Her latest is Standing in a River of Time, a book that is both emotional and experimental in scope as it combines poetry and memoir to expose the intergenerational effects of colonization. Kirton reflects on painful memories, her journey of spiritual healing and the guiding power of her ancestors.
The B.C.-based Kirton spoke with CBC Books about writing Standing in a River of Time.
Lives lived
"My ancestors are a great inspiration to me. I have a fascinating Métis history on my grandfather and my grandmother's side.
"I suppose the main reason that I write about pain so much is because I've had so much of it. And that's not to say that I'm unique — many of us have a lot of pain. But my introduction to it came very, very early with the things that happened in my home. It was just an accumulation of pain and I had to go somewhere — something had to happen. So I have spent the rest of my life healing. And it has been a wonderful journey.
I suppose the main reason that I write about pain so much is because I've had so much of it.
"My life was really hard and full of challenges. But I want people to know that they should hang in — miracles can happen."
Joy and pain
"With Standing in a River of Time, I wanted people to realize that healing takes a very long time. There is this idea that joy and pain are separate – but I feel they can sit side-by-side, that we can be more fluid with our emotions, so that we don't get stuck in the pain. There is so much pain in the world and it can be hard to feel joy when someone we love is suffering but we do need to attend to the joy as well as the suffering.
There is this idea that joy and pain are separate – but I feel they can sit side-by-side, that we can be more fluid with our emotions, so that we don't get stuck in the pain.
"I know that when I began doing my healing work, I thought that I was going to one day arrive at normal — but now I don't even know what normal is. This is a colonized idea, but I didn't realize it at the time.
"We need to trust ourselves. So if we're feeling drawn to a certain healing modality, we need to trust and to start with that. We need to follow those threads that are pulling on us — as we may be surprised by what comes from them."
The magic of poetry
"I try to write from the body. Through prayer and meditation, I dig deep, and try to reach the places where cellular and ancestral memory exist. I try to reach that place and find that my body knows more, especially around memory. But also I try to think how things feel because poetry is very much about feelings and emotion.
"When I began Standing in a River of Time, it was just to be a collection of poetry. But I had been experimenting with essay writing. And so as I was doing that, I began to enjoy essay writing but not 'regular' essay writing. This is more lyrical. Poetry, for me, is medicine. Poetry is its own language. In poetry, I can explore things in ways that I cannot in prose. Standing in a River of Time does incorporate prose — the reason for that is some things do need to be said that way.
I try to write from the body. I try to reach that place and find that my body knows more, especially around memory.
"But poetry can take us off into another world. It has a magical, otherworldly feel. And it's a great place for things that — if they were said outright — might sound strange or foolish.
"But when you are reading a poem that hits them in the gut — that they can feel in their body — you might feel less skeptical."
Jónína Kirton's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
