Been a long time since I've been home

Been a long time since I've been to Grandma's little shack

But after all this time

I can still remember it

Standing alone on the tundra

Sort of like a lighthouse

With it's beacon there

To guide weary sailors safely to shore

After a long time out at sea

Which in our case was a magnificent lake

Emerald in colour

The same way the Hudon's Bay blankets were coloured

That I slept in & on while at Grandma's little shack

In the mornings when I'd wake

I'd be greeted by the old wood fire stove

That usually had some fresh bannock

& some kind of clear water fish

Waiting to be consumed by the child

That should've known how to do the simple task

But being brought up in the so-called civilized ways

Didn't

A woman well past her prime

had to fend for this young-

ster

Who was un-educated by her standards

But in time I learned some of them

While in Grandma's little shack

I can faintly remember her telling me of legends

That have long since been forgotten by everyone but her

& when her time comes

A part of our heritage will die

Along with her shack

That she & her husband built with their own hands

From a distance Grandma's little shack

Doesn't look like anything special

But if you knew the woman who lived in it

You'd say it was

There's so much more I'd like to say

But it's been a long time since I've been home

& even longer since I've been to grandma's little shack