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Burning in This Midnight Dream
Many of the poems in Louise Halfe’s Burning in This Midnight Dream were written in response to the grim tide of emotions, memories, dreams and nightmares that arose in her as the Truth and Reconciliation process unfolded. In heart-wrenching detail, Halfe recalls the damage done to her parents, her family, herself. With fearlessly wrought verse, Halfe describes how the experience of the residential schools continues to haunt those who survive, and how the effects pass like a virus from one generation to the next. She asks us to consider the damage done to children taken from their families, to families mourning their children; damage done to entire communities and to ancient cultures.
Halfe’s poetic voice soars in this incredibly moving collection as she digs deep to discover the root of her pain. Her images, created from the natural world, reveal the spiritual strength of her culture.
Originally published in 2016 by Coteau Books, Burning in This Midnight Dream won the Indigenous Peoples’ Publishing award, the Rasmussen, Ramussen & Charowsky Indigenous Peoples’ Writing award, the Saskatchewan Arts Board Poetry Award, the League of Canadian Poets’ Raymond Souster Award, and the High Plains Book Award for Indigenous Writers. It was also the 2017 WILLA Literacy Award Finalist in Poetry. This new edition includes a new Afterword by Halfe.
“Burning in this Midnight Dream honours the witness of a singular experience, Halfe’s experience, that many others of kin and clan experienced. Halfe descends into personal and cultural darkness with the care of a master story-teller and gives story voice to mourning. By giving voice to shame, confusion, injustice Halfe begins to reclaim a history. It is the start of a larger dialogue than what is contained in the pages.” —Raymond Souster Award jury citation
Halfe’s poetic voice soars in this incredibly moving collection as she digs deep to discover the root of her pain. Her images, created from the natural world, reveal the spiritual strength of her culture.
Originally published in 2016 by Coteau Books, Burning in This Midnight Dream won the Indigenous Peoples’ Publishing award, the Rasmussen, Ramussen & Charowsky Indigenous Peoples’ Writing award, the Saskatchewan Arts Board Poetry Award, the League of Canadian Poets’ Raymond Souster Award, and the High Plains Book Award for Indigenous Writers. It was also the 2017 WILLA Literacy Award Finalist in Poetry. This new edition includes a new Afterword by Halfe.
“Burning in this Midnight Dream honours the witness of a singular experience, Halfe’s experience, that many others of kin and clan experienced. Halfe descends into personal and cultural darkness with the care of a master story-teller and gives story voice to mourning. By giving voice to shame, confusion, injustice Halfe begins to reclaim a history. It is the start of a larger dialogue than what is contained in the pages.” —Raymond Souster Award jury citation
104 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2016
5 people are currently reading
517 people want to read
About the author
Louise Bernice Halfe
12 books46 followersLouise Halfe is known in Cree as Sky Dancer. She was born on the Saddle Lake First Nation reserve in Alberta in 1953. At the age of seven, she was sent away to Blue Quills Residential School in St. Paul, Alberta. She left home of her own accord when she was sixteen, breaking ties with her family and completing her studies at St. Paul's regional high school. It was at this time that she began writing a journal about her experiences.
Halfe's first book of poetry, Bear Bones and Feathers, won the Milton Acorn People's Poet award, and was a finalist for the Spirit of Saskatchewan Award, the Pat Lowther Award and the Gerald Lampert Award.
Her second book, Blue Marrow was short-listed for the Governor General Award as well as the Book of the Year Award, Saskatoon Book Award, and Poetry Award.
Her work has appeared in various anthologies and magazines, and she has been on Peter Gzowski's Morningside, CBC's The Arts Tonight and Ambience. Halfe has travelled extensively across Canada and abroad doing readings and presentations of her work and conducting writing workshops.
She has a Bachelor or Social Work from the University of Regina and certificates in addictions counseling from the Neechi Institute. Halfe lives in Saskatoon.
Halfe's first book of poetry, Bear Bones and Feathers, won the Milton Acorn People's Poet award, and was a finalist for the Spirit of Saskatchewan Award, the Pat Lowther Award and the Gerald Lampert Award.
Her second book, Blue Marrow was short-listed for the Governor General Award as well as the Book of the Year Award, Saskatoon Book Award, and Poetry Award.
Her work has appeared in various anthologies and magazines, and she has been on Peter Gzowski's Morningside, CBC's The Arts Tonight and Ambience. Halfe has travelled extensively across Canada and abroad doing readings and presentations of her work and conducting writing workshops.
She has a Bachelor or Social Work from the University of Regina and certificates in addictions counseling from the Neechi Institute. Halfe lives in Saskatoon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 20, 2019
Us NDNs have grown up to our grandmothers crying and our grandfathers stony silence. Our sweet Nokomis, Mishoom, what did they do to you in those schools? For years the following generations received no answers.
They often only encountered substance abuse, trauma, broken family and cultural ties, their sense of self and community slowly slipping slipping slipping away in the white mans current.
Burning in this Midnight Dream by Cree storyteller Louise Bernice Halfe is a poetry collection that both teaches and soothes. Her words are fearless and tender, forgiving and relentless. Her words look Truth and Reconciliation in the eye and ask it what it intends to do with all of this carnage it’s colonialism has created, who is here to witness it? To acknowledge it?
Her words encourage First Nations people to find healing while also calling on non-natives to bare witness to the scars of residential schools and the intergenerational trauma that lingers and acknowledge its existence.
From “kakēskimāwaso - counsel the children,” Halfe addresses the reader:
“I know this landslide
is hard to bear.
I’ve pulled the stink weeds for you
to ingest. Yet, this is one story
of many lives.
Too many lives.”
Sky Dancer (Halfes traditional name) has done all of the painful work on these pages, all you have to do is read and listen.
Whether or not you enjoy poetry, I promise you will come away from this collection with so much knowledge and understanding. Please listen to the story of these lives. Miigwech
They often only encountered substance abuse, trauma, broken family and cultural ties, their sense of self and community slowly slipping slipping slipping away in the white mans current.
Burning in this Midnight Dream by Cree storyteller Louise Bernice Halfe is a poetry collection that both teaches and soothes. Her words are fearless and tender, forgiving and relentless. Her words look Truth and Reconciliation in the eye and ask it what it intends to do with all of this carnage it’s colonialism has created, who is here to witness it? To acknowledge it?
Her words encourage First Nations people to find healing while also calling on non-natives to bare witness to the scars of residential schools and the intergenerational trauma that lingers and acknowledge its existence.
From “kakēskimāwaso - counsel the children,” Halfe addresses the reader:
“I know this landslide
is hard to bear.
I’ve pulled the stink weeds for you
to ingest. Yet, this is one story
of many lives.
Too many lives.”
Sky Dancer (Halfes traditional name) has done all of the painful work on these pages, all you have to do is read and listen.
Whether or not you enjoy poetry, I promise you will come away from this collection with so much knowledge and understanding. Please listen to the story of these lives. Miigwech
June 16, 2019
A hole is hard to climb out of when there is nothing
to cling to
from the poem sipehkeytha/endure p26
LBH knows that hole well and she recreates her life in these strong words.In fact, the poems here form a poetic autobiography, illustrated by photographs of her large family, stark and challenging.
I found myself released from residential school yet
the four walls slithered everywhere I went. p5
from the poem masaskon/ stripped p5
All blessings to you gentle warrior
to cling to
from the poem sipehkeytha/endure p26
LBH knows that hole well and she recreates her life in these strong words.In fact, the poems here form a poetic autobiography, illustrated by photographs of her large family, stark and challenging.
I found myself released from residential school yet
the four walls slithered everywhere I went. p5
from the poem masaskon/ stripped p5
All blessings to you gentle warrior
June 28, 2021
Somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars
Halfe's poetry is really well constructed and full of imagery and emotion.
I personally liked the second half of the collection more overall, but overall its a really well done collection.
She touches on a lot of themes that I get the sense appear through all her collections: trauma and residential school experiences, relationships (familial and romantic), personal growth and discovery of self, and more. Her Cree background informs all of her poetry and I appreciated the use of Cree words throughout the text - it added an additional element to her storytelling (i.e. code-switching and decolonizing).
I'd definitely be interested in reading her earlier collections as well!
Some favourite poems:
Con Game
akāwāta - to long for
wīsakan - a bitter taste
nīmihis - the dancer
Unpacking the Knapsack
Carry on
A hummingbird
"When you fall, you don't wallow in self-pity. You get up."
Lateral Practises
The Quandry
ospwātan - the pipe
Burning in this Midnight Dream
Owners of themselves
Halfe's poetry is really well constructed and full of imagery and emotion.
I personally liked the second half of the collection more overall, but overall its a really well done collection.
She touches on a lot of themes that I get the sense appear through all her collections: trauma and residential school experiences, relationships (familial and romantic), personal growth and discovery of self, and more. Her Cree background informs all of her poetry and I appreciated the use of Cree words throughout the text - it added an additional element to her storytelling (i.e. code-switching and decolonizing).
I'd definitely be interested in reading her earlier collections as well!
Some favourite poems:
Con Game
akāwāta - to long for
wīsakan - a bitter taste
nīmihis - the dancer
Unpacking the Knapsack
Carry on
A hummingbird
"When you fall, you don't wallow in self-pity. You get up."
Lateral Practises
The Quandry
ospwātan - the pipe
Burning in this Midnight Dream
Owners of themselves
August 9, 2018
These poems cover many aspects of the author's life and experiences but what haunts you through the collection is the inter-generational trauma; how can anyone can deny the trauma we have caused to native people? I understand the desire to ignore and deny but this is impacting so many lives, we need help and make reparations for what we have done as colonizers.
January 21, 2020
Louise Bernice Halfe has shared some intensely intimate and difficult stories within her poetry and each and every poem is impactful, beautiful and intense. I feel lucky to have been able to read this collection.
November 5, 2020
This is a beautiful and courageous collection of poetry by First Nations indigenous Canadian poet Louise Bernice Halfe. It quite has me reeling.
February 8, 2022
This was so well-written and engaging and heartbreaking.
October 6, 2023
some of the best poetry I’ve ever read. You can feel her strength and resilience through the text.
November 29, 2022
Sad but beautiful…..it shows the love and ignorance of man. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
January 26, 2025
One of the most incredible poetry collections I've ever read
January 25, 2018
This is my first time reading any poetry by Louise Bernice Halfe. This volume sparked my interest at the library, and I am incredibly glad I checked it out.
Burning In This Midnight Dream is filled with beautiful poems that recount the struggles of a person, a family, and a community in the aftermath of the Indian Residential School system, written as Halfe was going through the TRC process. The poems almost form a narrative, almost a poetic memoir. Many of them stand on their own, but most of them are best read in the book format. The poems cut to the core with their honesty. This is the best poetry I have read so far this year (and I know January isn't even through yet, but this is the fifth poetry book I have read this month, so I feel like it's not entirely meaningless to say this).
As fantastic as this is, I definitely intend to look into reading more of her work. I also recommend this to anyone looking for good poetry or to anyone looking for the voices of those who attended the Indian Residential Schools.
Burning In This Midnight Dream is filled with beautiful poems that recount the struggles of a person, a family, and a community in the aftermath of the Indian Residential School system, written as Halfe was going through the TRC process. The poems almost form a narrative, almost a poetic memoir. Many of them stand on their own, but most of them are best read in the book format. The poems cut to the core with their honesty. This is the best poetry I have read so far this year (and I know January isn't even through yet, but this is the fifth poetry book I have read this month, so I feel like it's not entirely meaningless to say this).
As fantastic as this is, I definitely intend to look into reading more of her work. I also recommend this to anyone looking for good poetry or to anyone looking for the voices of those who attended the Indian Residential Schools.
May 22, 2024
Some really beautiful poems in this collection. The highlights — the juxtaposition between natural landscapes and botanical descriptions and colonial structures and religion. As well, the writing is so nuanced in how it treats love / pain. Those we love hurt us most. Culture and trauma intertwined. Besides the content of the poetry, the verse itself was good but unremarkable. Which I don't mind, I'm much more content focused with poetry.
June 24, 2021
This strong, sinewy collection would likely be a major work even it had somehow had a completely different subject. That it is written in response to Halfe’s experiences in the Indian Residential “Schools” system of re-education snd labour camps and also in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission places the collection in a position of historical importance. There are many, many statements by Survivors of that genocide, and any non-Survivor who attended the TRC national or local events as a witness will understand the huge number of stories of unfathomable cruelty and barbarism tend to provoke a feeling of accumulating horror and despair. To have a reflection on that genocide, those experiences, and the process of reflecting upon them in the TRC memorialized in a book of poetry this dynamic and inquisitive, by a writer as talented as Halfe, is enormously fortunate. Halfe writes in deceptively simple language that she delights in occasionally giving quick twists into the stark, the surreal, the uncanny, and the transcendent. She could be much flashier than she is and it’s to her credit she keeps her language sparse and controlled—while still succeeding in driving home emotion after emotion. Her linguistic style expands and contracts; the poems appear on flashes from literal to figurative, gutting to beguiling. Behind it all Halfe manages to cast a sense of the ugly shadow of the national system of inhumanity that condemned her childhood to darkness and continues to this day to ruin lives and families in its modern incarnations. Yet how often are those awful realities the stuff of strong poetry, the kind that invites immediate rereading? I am sad I didn’t hear of Halfe’s work prior to a couple of years ago: this is important, well-wrought work, especially and depressingly relevant this month as we learn of new mass grave after new mass grave of unidentified children on the sites of the “Schools” that were the engines of genocide. This book would be fine if it were simply a statement of defiance of that history through the telling of truthful memory—so many such tales are worth reading carefully. It is a good deal more than that, and merits wide reading, rereading, and study.
August 20, 2018
“I want to know how I can bring beauty
and drink the nectar of delight.”
In this collection, Skydancer details the flood of memory and pain following her hearing for the Truth and Reconciliation Council on the splintered abuse of the Residential School system and its lasting impact on indigenous peoples. It is full of heart and suffering, but she still seeks to bring the light with her - a powerful testament in the face of decades of systematic wrongdoings to the native people of Canada.
Despite the proud claims the Trudeau government makes on advances of Truth and Reconciliation, the formal apology process of the Crown, this powerful collection showcases that the work has only just begun. The path of righting wrongs must be taken seriously, as it will be long and full of pain.
and drink the nectar of delight.”
In this collection, Skydancer details the flood of memory and pain following her hearing for the Truth and Reconciliation Council on the splintered abuse of the Residential School system and its lasting impact on indigenous peoples. It is full of heart and suffering, but she still seeks to bring the light with her - a powerful testament in the face of decades of systematic wrongdoings to the native people of Canada.
Despite the proud claims the Trudeau government makes on advances of Truth and Reconciliation, the formal apology process of the Crown, this powerful collection showcases that the work has only just begun. The path of righting wrongs must be taken seriously, as it will be long and full of pain.
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August 13, 2021I am choosing to not give this a star rating.
I did mostly enjoy this poetry collection, but my non-enjoyment came from the poems sometimes felt inaccessible and difficult to follow or understand. But the thing is, these poems were not for my healing and that is why I won't pick a star rating. These poems were not reflecting any trauma I ever experienced, and will never experience. I am glad that Louise B Halfe - Sky Dancer felt some healing from this poetry collection.
I will be happily seeking out non-fiction and fiction alike of works by indigenous authors about indigenous issues.
I did mostly enjoy this poetry collection, but my non-enjoyment came from the poems sometimes felt inaccessible and difficult to follow or understand. But the thing is, these poems were not for my healing and that is why I won't pick a star rating. These poems were not reflecting any trauma I ever experienced, and will never experience. I am glad that Louise B Halfe - Sky Dancer felt some healing from this poetry collection.
I will be happily seeking out non-fiction and fiction alike of works by indigenous authors about indigenous issues.
February 11, 2020
This was a beautiful book of poetry. I loved the narrative arc that Louise Halfe created and sustained throughout the work. The experience, aftermath, and on-going impact of residential school was skillfully and unflinchingly explored by her. And the hard work of healing and recovering was realistically presented and celebrated. This was a tough read but also a wonderful read that I needed to take my time with.
July 27, 2021
A short book, but with a massive punch. I really appreciate Sky Dancer's ability to weave together a story through poetry about such a difficult subject. The way Sky Dancer writes is poignant, intimate, and chilling. I love the imagery she draws from without denying the horrors she experienced of the residential school. I definitely came away having learned a lot more about this Canadian atrocity as the result of this book.
December 11, 2023
I liked the timeline of this book of poetry but every once in a while i struggled to understand some lines. It seemed like there could have been grammar errors but it could have also been purposeful.
November 24, 2016
A gorgeous and moving book of poetry about the impact on residential school on a native woman and her family.
I cried.
Loved this book.
I cried.
Loved this book.
January 15, 2018
One of those books that's both easy to read (the words slide right into you) and hard (the subject matter is heartbreaking though sometimes hopeful).
January 22, 2018
Omg. Beautiful, painful, restorative. Can't believe I waited this long to read her--I'll snap up every one of her books now.
July 11, 2019
Beautiful, sorrowful, hopeful poems.
October 6, 2019
“Now I am a nothing person. I cannot share what I don’t know.”
June 23, 2020
such an amazing collection of poems. a great foil to reading the more detailed truth and reconciliation report.
December 15, 2020
This book of poetry made me incredibly emotional.
July 5, 2022
what a meaningful insight into something so private as a people's shared suffering of the soul and identity, generational trauma, and the resulting anger from both.
July 17, 2023
3.5*
Beautiful, evocative writing. Many individual poems were wonderful, but I thought it was repetitive as a collection.
Beautiful, evocative writing. Many individual poems were wonderful, but I thought it was repetitive as a collection.
April 1, 2024
Beautiful, just truly beautiful
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April 14, 2016http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2016/0...
Review by Clarissa Fortin
Lisa Bird-Wilson knows how to make words cut and sting.
In her debut poetry collection The Red Files Bird-Wilson skewers government attempts at an apology for residential schools.
"You sowed these seeds and you
apologize for having done this
thing that is still in the doing"
In Burning in this Midnight Dream, Louise Bernice Halfe takes on residential school stories, and other tales of injustice at the hands of Indian Affairs, in a profoundly personal way:
"This afternoon I have my hearing
For Truth and Reconciliation.
I must confess my years of sleeping
In those sterile, cold rooms where the hiss
Of water heaters were devils in the dark
I want to walk these thickets
To that far horizon and not look back"
Both these poets work to address the past and present realities of Canada's relationship with Indigenous peoples through their poetry. They express anger at colonizers and compassion for the oppressed. They are hopeful but not blindly hopeful -- the realities of history are deeply impressed upon the reader.
However, these books differ when it comes to form and style, coming to similar conclusions through very different lenses.
Read more here: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2016/0...
Review by Clarissa Fortin
Lisa Bird-Wilson knows how to make words cut and sting.
In her debut poetry collection The Red Files Bird-Wilson skewers government attempts at an apology for residential schools.
"You sowed these seeds and you
apologize for having done this
thing that is still in the doing"
In Burning in this Midnight Dream, Louise Bernice Halfe takes on residential school stories, and other tales of injustice at the hands of Indian Affairs, in a profoundly personal way:
"This afternoon I have my hearing
For Truth and Reconciliation.
I must confess my years of sleeping
In those sterile, cold rooms where the hiss
Of water heaters were devils in the dark
I want to walk these thickets
To that far horizon and not look back"
Both these poets work to address the past and present realities of Canada's relationship with Indigenous peoples through their poetry. They express anger at colonizers and compassion for the oppressed. They are hopeful but not blindly hopeful -- the realities of history are deeply impressed upon the reader.
However, these books differ when it comes to form and style, coming to similar conclusions through very different lenses.
Read more here: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2016/0...
March 14, 2022
This is a beautiful poetry collection with themes of trauma, healing, womanhood, culture, and nature. It is a wonderfully cohesive collection which contains intricate and carefully crafted lyrical poems. The writing style is at once gorgeous and heartbreaking, complex and effortless, gentle and heavy. I recommend this collection to fans of lyrical poetry everywhere; however, you will understand it more if you have some prior knowledge of Canadian history. Fans of Margaret Atwood should definitely also read Louise Halfe. While they of course write in different styles, they explore some similar topics in their writings and have a gently blunt tone.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews