Origins, 11

Part of the reason

Quebec

is always on the verge

of declaring independence

is because of that French language,

its lingering connections

to France

rather than England,

including that pesky adherence

to the Catholic faith.

Which of course means

that my Canadian ancestors

lived here,

and that's part of what

they brought with them,

being driven

by that invisible persecution,

that permissible hate,

that acceptable bigotry,

just more white people

in a white population

mostly guilty about other skin colors,

and not much else,

nothing meaningful,

nothing that would notice

tolerance

or basic humanity,

which by the way,

is what Catholics do,

which is the whole point.

Which is why it's so easy

and so hard

to be a Catholic today.

But worth it.