The 1995 Quebec Referendum Poem by Gayathri Seetharam

The 1995 Quebec referendum
-Gayathri B. Seetharam
The only redeeming quality about this piece of action
Bordering on crime against the country of Canada
Is the fact that it was a peaceful protest
And showed the world that Canada was predominantly united;

And within its varied schools of thought and action
There had been a temporary abherration of character
Fueled by French Canadian politicians like Jacques Parizeau and Lucein Bouchard
But the message of patriotism won out;

Being fresh immigrants then who had lived in Canada for 9 months over a year
Who had moved from India to the USA and from USA to Canada
We rejoiced in the fact that the immigrant vote held the nation of Canada together
And brought out its strength in diversity and against adversity;

Trying to strike the right note in this poem
I researched the internet for patriotic poems on Canada
And in this publication by ROSE Publishing Company
I came across a poem and am including the first stanza from it:
CANADA! Maple-land! land of great mountains!
Lake-land and river-land! Land 'twixt the seas!
Grant us, God, hearts that are large as our heritage,
Spirits as free as the breeze.

However, it is interesting that despite Canada having the feminine gender
In another verse, it is referred to as a fatherland,
Which makes me conclude that it is both a motherland and a fatherland
For if mothers cherish, fathers nourish
For if mothers love, fathers are also our treasure trove
And if mothers raise Canada's people beautifully, fathers make us raise our bars for living equally beautifully;

If the motherland of Canada sought peace,
The fatherland in her protected her against her own actions
And Canada stayed together in 1995
And we all proudly say that the French speaking provinces of Quebec (and New Brunswick)
Are a part of Canada in 2019.

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Acknowledgements:
1. Canadian Poetry.org