Bramah and the Beggar Boy
I’m fascinated by Renée Sarojini Saklikar’s ongoing and expansive lyric assemblage, the multiple trade books across her The Heart of This Journey Bears All Patterns. This is a project that should be revered and studied in the same breath as bpNichol’s Martyrology, Robert Kroetsch’s Completed Field Notes and Dennis Cooley’s love in a dry land. Saklikar has clearly absorbed and understood the myriad traditions of the long poem, and furthers the structures into wildly unexpected places; pushing the boundaries of what writing can do, and the formal possibilities of what bpNichol termed a “poem as long as a life.”
—rob mclennan
Bramah and the Beggar Boy takes us into a near-future apocalyptic world on an odyssey of our time. Like Melville’s great whaling story, Saklikar’s marvelous tale rivets us with mind-blowing insights into the destructive forces at work right now in our capitalist world and how we might resist and overcome them. It’s a page-turner.
—Meredith Quartermain
With Bramah and the Beggar Boy, Renée Sarojini Saklikar has resurrected the epic poem for the Anthropocene, merged it with the visionary qualities of speculative fiction, and woven diasporic threads into a new and necessary act of world making. The future was such a long time ago—but maybe it’s not over yet. Throw the dice. Jump the fence. Cross the threshold. The carmen perpetuum, the continuous song of THOT J BAP has begun. Only beauty unfolds from here.
—Stephen Collis
2021
Copyright © Renée Sarojini Saklikar, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the publisher or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from Access Copyright, the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, www.accesscopyright.ca, [email protected].
Nightwood Editions
P.O. Box 1779
Gibsons, BC V0N 1V0
Canada
www.nightwoodeditions.com
Cover design: Topshelf Creative
Cover art: Nadina Tandy
Typography: Carleton Wilson
Illustrations: Line drawings by the author; pine cone and microscope images (pp. 18, 84, 93) from Wikimedia Commons
Nightwood Editions acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council.
This book has been produced on 100% post-consumer recycled, ancient-forest-free paper, processed chlorine-free and printed with vegetable-based dyes.
Printed and bound in Canada.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: Bramah and the beggar boy / Renée Sarojini Saklikar.
Names: Saklikar, Renée Sarojini, author.
Description: Poems.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20210159022 | Canadiana (ebook) 20210159065 | ISBN 9780889714021 (softcover) | ISBN 9780889714038 (HTML)
Classification: LCC PS8637.A52 B73 2021 | DDC C811/.6—dc23
Let all evil die and the good endure
Contents
Welcome to the World of THOT J BAP
Introduction
Characters
Locations
Part One
Arrival at the Gate of the Winter Portal
That Gate, the Oracle, Her Icy Breath
Fragments of Old Reports Unverified
Consortium’s Song
Resistance Song
From the Wishing Well to Perimeter’s Edge
The Summons: Bramah on a Job
Village Women Gossip
Video Surveillance Monitor, Malfunctioning
Overheard
As Recorded by Several Un/named Witnesses
The Adventures of Bramah and the Beggar Boy
Their First Adventure
Their Second Adventure
Their Third Adventure
The Beggar Boy Meets Bramah’s Grandmother
The Things They See
The Map They Steal
The Things They Take
Grandmother’s Instruction
Video Surveillance: Investigator’s Logbook
Bramah and the Beggar Boy Find an Old Oak Box
The Letter They Find
Partial Transcript: The Rehabilitated Scientists
Photographs of Prisoners
Court Records of the Lost
Bill of Lading for Masks
Scratched Disc: Recording of the Captives
The Notes of the Beekeeper’s Daughter
The Map of the Last Knight
Video Remnant of the Migrants
The Parchment Scroll
Unfurled
Chased to the Gate of the Spring Portal, 2050
The Great Abandonment
The Five Catastrophes
Followers of Aunty Maria
Aunty Maria’s Clandestine Harvest
Aunty Maria Told Us
Scientists on the Run
In the Dry, We Find Our Moments to Rest
Our Comparative Study: The Beauty Bush
Our Observations May Well Go Unheeded
Battle Song of the Streets
After Curfew, Two Masked Scientists, Roaming
On the Desk of the Investigator
Inside Detention Centre C
Orders for Surveillance
The Curiously Disappearing Document
Taken from the Notebooks of Aunty Maria, After the Science Trials
Our Testimony About Aunty Maria
To Be Confiscated: Three Hologram Plates Plate #1
Plate #2
Plate #3
Song of the Scientists
After the Battle of Kingsway, the Bees
Posted on Cy-Board #6: Aunty Maria’s Lament
The Last Known Observation Report
Captured at the Gate of the Summer Portal, 2052
The Great Dispersal
The Good Doctor, as Posted on Cy-Board #6
The Good Doctor in Paris
The Good Doctor, Witness to the Fate of Children
Resister Statements Pinned to Cy-Board #6
Logbook of the Guards, Paris Fifth Gate
Dr. A.E. Anderson, Person of Interest
From a Transcript Given to the Guards of the Fifth Gate
Partial Record: The Whereabouts of Dr. A.E. Anderson, Tracked
Transport Plane Manifest
Paris to Pacifica, We Stitched Our Fragments
Dr. A.E. Anderson Returned to Pacifica
Found Inside a Consortium Lab, Pacifica Partial Record #1
Partial Record #2
Partial Record #3
Logbook of the Guards, Detention Centre C, Pacifica
Stolen from Detention Centre C, Pacifica First Report
Second Report
Third Report
Resisters Brought in for Questioning We admit to surveying, up by the Eve River
We admit we knew Aunty Maria
We admit to helping the Doctor
We deny knowledge of her chalice
The Resisters Relinquish Dr. Anderson’s Instructions for a Chalice
As Narrated by the Investigator
Conscripted at the Gate of the Autumn Portal, 2055
As Reported to the Investigator, Detention Centre C Informant #1
Informant #2
Informant #3
The Good Doctor, as Posted on Cy-Board #6
Desiderata
A Guard of the Fifth Lures Betty, Daughter of the Village Spy
The Work of Dr. Anderson as Recounted by the Village Spy
Betty, the Daughter of th
e Village Spy
Betty’s Statement
Documents Obtained By Guards of the Fifth The Anderson Family, Paternal Side
The Anderson Family, Maternal Side
Partial Record: The Whereabouts of Dr. A.E. Anderson
Dr. Anderson, Rendered to the Investigator
Dr. Anderson Refuses to Answer
Dr. A.E. Anderson, at Detention Centre C
From a Transcript Assembled by the Guards of Detention Centre C
The Interrogation of Dr. A.E. Anderson
Dr. Anderson After Her First Beating The Tale of the Silver Sandals
The Tale of Barnston Island, as Then Was Called
Dr. Anderson After Her Second Beating All My Aunties
Those West Coast Trails
Dr. Anderson Hallucinates
Dr. A.E. Anderson, Broken by a Brand
Dr. Anderson Learns of the Kept Women
Dr. Anderson, as Kept by the Investigator
Dr. Anderson, Collaborator
Dr. Anderson Sings Herself to Sleep
Dr. Anderson: Testimony
The Last Dream of Dr. A.E. Anderson
The Last Words of Dr. A.E. Anderson
The Spy’s Tale to the Investigator
The Information
Tribunal Meeting of the Consortium
After the Meeting, a Verdict
After the Verdict, Orders: Signed & Sealed
The Execution of Dr. A.E. Anderson, 2057 The Song of the Stonebreakers’ Yard
Smuggled Out of Detention Centre C
Report of the Guards of the Fifth, After a Search for the Little Beggar Girl
Four Aunties at Perimeter’s Edge
Aftermath: Resisters and Migrants Imprisoned
At the End of the Parchment Scroll
The Adventures of Bramah and the Beggar Boy Continued
Return to the Winter Portal
Bramah Teaches the Beggar Boy About the Stars
Honey Hunting in the Wilds of the Western Borealis
Search for the Bitter Green Willow
Bramah and the Resisters
The Battle of the Whispering Trees and After
What Bramah Learned, She Taught
Grandmother Hears News of the Four Aunties
Around the Campfire Called If Only… The Tale of the Girl and the Disappearing Streams
The Tale of the Girl with a Thousand Pockets
The Tale of the Girl with Far-Seeing Eyes
The Tale of the Boy with the Red Canoe
The Tale of the Girl Who Slept with Spiders
The Things They Discover About the Old Oak Box
Inside the Old Oak Box, the Beggar Boy Finds Another Map
Inside the Old Oak Box, the Beggar Boy Finds a Document
The Old Oak Box, Gone!
Hiding Out with the Night Stitcher
Bramah Tells the Beggar Boy She Must Leave
Bramah Remembers a Lullaby
Bramah’s Secret
Many Miles to Cross
The Investigator
At the Chapel of the Stone Aunties
The Last Song at the End of the Known World
At Perimeter’s Edge
Part Two
Abigail Discovered
Ruin, a Map for Perimeter
After Curfew, Those Street Sweepers Sing
The Four Aunties of the Wishing Well
As Heard on the Albion Ferry
Found Pinned to a Far Wall, Perimeter’s Edge
Found: One Oak Box. Locked. Stained Parchment, Engraved
Cotton Scrap, Embroidered
A Blood-Stained Letter & Other Things
Fare Forward, Voyagers: Hologram #1
Fare Forward, Voyagers: Hologram #2
Fare Forward, Voyagers: Hologram #3
Heard Outside Tower Juniper
Abigail and Aunty Agatha at the Farm
Heard Outside Aunty Agatha’s Kitchen, 2058
We Live On Just Like That
Aunty Agatha’s Initiation into Portal Maintenance
Aunty Agatha at the Ash Tree
Aunty Agatha’s Lullaby About the Year 2020
Aunty Agatha Remembers
Aunty Agatha Teaches Abigail Two Farmhouse Songs Skipping Song
The Widow’s Song
The Young Dr. A.E. Anderson as Told by Aunty Agatha
Aunty Agatha Takes Abigail to the Wishing Well
Aunty Agatha Gossips About Her Long-Dead Husband
Aunty Agatha Tells Abigail About the Before-Time
Aunty Agatha and the Parchment Fragment
These Charts Your Mother Sent to Me
Aunty Agatha Gives Abigail a Letter
The Keepsake
Hologram Message of Dr. A.E. Anderson to Her Adopted Daughter, Abigail
Abigail Abandons the Farm
The Adventures of Abigail
Abigail Up Against Consortium Everywhere She Went
Abigail Accidentally Falls into a Before-Time Portal
Abigail in Paris
Abigail in Ahmedabad
Abigail in Baghdad
The Encounter
Called by the Summer Solstice
Abigail Returns to the Farm
Informers Sent by Consortium
Evening Memories
Around the Circle Called You Could Have…
Abigail Gets Work as a Day Labourer
Abigail and the Android
The Lost Holograms of Dr. A.E. Anderson Hologram #1: The Summons
Hologram #2: Heeding the Call
Abigail in the House of the Makers In the House of Clay and Lime
In the House of the Glass Blowers
In the Weavers’ Guild Hall
The Guild Hall Makers Chant Their Secret
Abigail and Bartholomew
Pursued from the Gate of the Autumn Portal
That Time of the Wildfires, Abigail Sends Word
That Moment When They Fell
Abigail and Bartholomew Help a Group of Seed Savers
All the Things That Then Happened
Hunted by Agents of Consortium
One Night, a Bard Sings of the Battle of Kingsway
Leaving Pacifica to Join the Resistance
As Foretold Although She Did Not See It Then
Time-travelling with Bartholomew
Finding Refuge with an Ex-Lover
After Argument, Abigail and Bartholomew Accept a Mission
The Killings
After the Arrest of Bartholomew
Abigail Contemplates Divine Assistance
Abigail Waits Outside Bartholomew’s Prison
Abigail Sends Word to Bartholomew from the Wars
Caravanserai: Abigail’s Quest for Bartholomew
Abigail Searches the Secret Gardens of Paris
Abigail Risks a Meeting with the Butcher of Paris
In Ahmedabad, Abigail Secures a Rendezvous
In Baghdad, Abigail Deepens Her Search
Abigail Indentured in the Bee Palace of Baghdad
Escape from the Bee Palace
Battles and Deprivations
Abigail Secures Bartholomew’s Release from Prison
Abigail and Bartholomew Rejoin the Resistance
Abigail Disputes the Findings of a Stray Oracle
Guards and Informers Track Down Abigail and Bartholomew
Abigail and Bartholomew Arrange a Secret Meeting
Abigail Conceives Her Child
Abigail at the Lake
To That Which Is to Come
Brought to the Portal of the Misshapen Season
The Letters of Abigail and Her Lover, Bartholomew Migrant Camp #3
Migrant Camp #8
Migrant Camp #3
Migrant Camp #8
Migrant Camp #3
From Migrant Camps to the Stone Marker
As Recounted by the Sole Woman Survivor, Migrant Camp #3
As Heard around the Migrants’ Campfire
Inscribed on the Walls of Migra
nt Camp #3
The Tale of the Village Spy, Found in the Year 2087
Lament of the Stone Marker
Relinquished at the Gate
At the Gate of the Unlucky
The Oracle of Gold and Green
Village Women Gossip
Four Aunties at the Wishing Well
Outside Perimeter, Faint Echoes Heard
The Beggar Boy’s Song
A Note to the Reader
Lives Lived in THOT J BAP: Book One
Event Summary of THOT J BAP: Book One
Chronology of Major Events in THOT J BAP: Book One
A Note on Time Travel in THOT J BAP
About the Poetry
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Welcome to the World of THOT J BAP
released into this fractured world of woe,
this story, messenger, steady and slow
your eyes to read, as your hands to then turn
each page a portal: welcoming return
Introduction
One afternoon, in an old house in an abandoned village on the outskirts of Perimeter, in the place they call Pacifica, Bramah and the Beggar Boy find fragments of an ancient text in an oak box. Hunched over scraps of parchment and broken computer disks, they blow the dust off a cover, and so our story begins.
Steeped in the tradition of fairy tales, The Heart of This Journey Bears All Patterns (THOT J BAP) features a world in which a small band of resisters and survivors meet heartbreak and destruction with rhymes and resourceful skills such as soap and glass making, as well as a belief in the supernatural. Many things happen—some good, but mostly bad—including five eco-catastrophes and a viral bio-contagion. Shape-shifting in and out of it all is the nimble Bramah, a female locksmith, part-human, part-goddess—brown, brave and beautiful.
This is a world governed by climate change and an all-powerful Consortium. Planet Earth is on the verge of a Shift-Tilt and the changes of the seasons are themselves portals to time travel. Alas, even the seasons are mostly controlled by Consortium. Yet, as is so often the case, the powerful can’t always stop the hands of fate and the choices humans make. Throughout this poem, we hear the chants of Beggar Boys and Sword Girls as they sing, Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard (a throw of the dice will never abolish chance). The chants and rhymes are a subversive means of communication, foreshadowing events or calling on the help of our hero, Bramah.
Bramah and the Beggar Boy Page 1