The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1974, Qupperneq 26

24
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SPRING 1974
TRAGEDY AT A LAKE WINNIPEG SHORE
by John S. Matthiasson
It looked like a good place
To launch our new canoe.
Gentle waters, clean sand
And a small pier.
As Carolyn and I stood
On either side of the car,
And removed the strappings,
We noticed the men in the water.
“We may have to maneuver between divers”,
I said in irritation,
Angry at the activity
Which disturbed the still surface.
Before we had taken the canoe from the car roof
A woman drove up beside us.
One more disturbance.
We silently hoped that she didn’t own the pier.
She stopped her car, and,
After rolling down her window,
Asked,
“Have they found the body?”
She then explained to u.s
About the child who had gone for a late swim
The evening before,
And hadn’t returned.
As the three of us talked,
My childrens’ questions ignored,
We all watched the men
As they formed themselves into a long line.
They grasped one another’s hands,
And walked out, deeper and deeper,
Breaking the line of foam in front of them,
And feeling pain, for the day was cold.
The woman turned her car around
And continued on to her meeting.
Carolyn and I re-tied the canoe to the car
And went on to find another launching spot.