cruelty       the land was
harsh       as is told you
a barren island marguerite de roberval was marooned on
in the mouth of the saint laurence river
by her uncle
viceroy of canada
for having fallen in love with
a poor man
                  he escaped the ship &
swam to join her

this is the first european family we know of
one child is born to them
there on the isle of demons
so called because the wind howled over the rocks
drowned in sound the three of them

later she is rescued
returned to france
her husband & her child dead of famine
road out the storm her mind broken
by such cruelty as should never come again
out of this land to haunt us

.

innocence
                  in a sense
begins on       the outcrop

that we had it & lost it (maybe)
that we never had it (closer to the truth)
that we could all be to this day
marguerite de robervil's fantasy of company
alone on the isle of demons
dreaming of a country full of people
a land you could grow food in
starving to death
human howling in the elemental grief