In memory of Robert Devet (d. September 27, 2021), founder, publisher and editor of the Nova Scotia Advocate. This site is preserved as an archive of the Advocate’s journalism from 2016 to 2021, and as a tribute to Robert’s work. No new articles are published, and comments, forms and search are closed. Read the tribute →

Once there were bears in California
the woods fat with their smell.
Once bears roamed among redwoods–
aged trees that wouldn’t be felled.

Bears Once, by Halifax writer David Huebert, is a poem about the grizzly bear, once prominent in large swaths of North America, now extinct in California and elsewhere. The poem could as well have been about Nova Scotia’s mainland moose.

This week we feature a poem by David Huebert about the colonization of the Halifax Commons. April was poetry month, and we managed to not publish one single poem. But never mind, it’s May, and we have another poetic surprise planned for next weekend.