The Second Time by Rosanna Deerchild

This poem deals head-on with Residential Schools. Rosanna Deerchild is a Canadian Cree writer, poet and radio host. She is best known as host of the radio program Unreserved on CBC Radio One, a show that shares the music, cultures, and stories from indigenous people across Canada, from 2014 to 2020. She is the co-founder and remains a member of the Aboriginal Writers Collective established in 1999. The collective, a group of Manitoba writers, has released two collections in print, urban kool and Bone Memory, and a live spoken word CD, Red City. Rosanna has also performed live comedy and has written book reviews for the Winnipeg Free Press. Her first book, This is a Small Northern Town, is a full-length collection of poems that looks at a small northern town that is heavily divided along colour lines and holds long family secrets.

Deerchild's second book, Calling Down the Sky, is a deeply personal piece about Canada's Indigenous Residential Schools. This book is, in part, the product of a multi-year healing journey and tells the story of Deerchild's own mother and her struggles as a generational survivor of residential schools. This book also won the Lowther Memorial award in 2016. Deerchild and her mother Edna Ferguson wrote a poetry book about her residential school experience together.

Deerchild originates from South Indian Lake, Manitoba (Now called O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation). She now lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 2018 she was able to accomplish one of her dreams, which was to be an emcee in a powwow.

Write with empathy in reponse to the continuing discovery of the atrocites that was a result of the Residential Schools program.