My body was moss
Curled over the edges
Of a mountain
I didn’t even remember
Climbing
So when I curled ’round
The edge to see the
Free fall below
I said to myself,
“it’s okay to leave
Space to grow ’til
Your roots reach the ground”
So I reached my roots
Down and buried them
Until they were so
Warmed by the heat
From the core of
The earth that they burned.
Posts tagged Poetry
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Nicole
It is easy
To give myself to you
To meet you
Where you are when
You need care
Because I know how to
Give
But when it comes to my
Own circle
This body is covered in skin
Like metal where I
Boil my own insides
To steep the herbs that
Grow from my liver
And as my guts turn
To desert I
Find myself
Far less parched than
Quenched by this
Well I draw from
As you drink.
Kristal
I often feel compelled
To do as much as this
Glass picture frame that
Houses
My ever-moving self
Will allow me to do not
Because I feel obligated but
Because I feel true and honest
Joy
When my finger tips graze the
Energy of your toe tips
When our voices mix
Like cream blends into fresh coffee
My joy is not fleeting
Because it has roots
So when my chest caves in,
Instead of speaking my truth,
I am called to rest.
The Nothing Exists Radio Hour Ep. #21: David Sheffield (Green Wood Coalition, housing crisis in Northumberland, vision for housing, harm-reduction, and poetry)
August 17 LIVE on Northumberland 89.7 FM Small Town Radio!
LISTEN HERE for the podcast version.
Tune in to hear my interview with my good friend (and low key mentor) David Sheffield. We are gonna talk about Green Wood Coalition, affordable housing, art, poetry, local events, frontline social work, harm-reduction, building community, and more.
“I’ve lived in various parts of Ontario, but Northumberland County has been my home since 1986. My wife, Beth, and I settled here at that time, and have always felt that this was a great place to raise our four children. I often note that my children have been my best teachers, and that’s more true today than ever. We have four grandchildren, also living in this area, and we are enjoying the new discoveries they have brought to our lives.
My work in community outreach started 10 years ago, but I think I was being guided to this place by many years of life experience. This feels more like a vocation than a job. Much of my career was in the painting trade, while spending off hours in community engagement through art projects, meals, church activities, music festivals and campfires. My writing—poetry and non-fiction—has been published in a variety of periodicals and anthologies. Writing is my favourite way to process some of the difficult days that one can encounter in this kind of work.
These days, I’m the Community Director at Green Wood Coalition, which is a people-level response to the disconnection of poverty and related social struggles. The work is difficult, at times, but also very inspiring because of the resilience of individuals that I encounter, and the encouragement of many people who work alongside me.”
If you wanna read the article Gareth Vieira wrote about poets, including David and I, click here.
To learn more about Art Hives, click here.
Learn more about Overdose Awareness Day Northumberland here.
Features Tunes:
Roll Away the Stone by Carlos Del Junco and Jimmy Bowskill
I Will by Christa Couture
Shelter Valley Road by David Newland
Barley by Birds of Chicago
The Nothing Exists Radio Hour Ep. #3: Writer, Lindsey Woodward
April 20 LIVE @8pm on Northumberland 89.7: Truly local radio:
LISTEN HERE if you missed it live!
Join Lyss and guest, writer, Lindsey Woodward, to discuss topics such as:
- All about Lindsey’s self-published book, “Resurrection”
- Lindsey’s writing influences
- The importance of poetry as an art form
- Our respective experiences with Short Order Poetry
- The upcoming poetry reading: Poems to Live By
- Written poetry vs. spoken word poetry
- Influence of neurodivergence in writing
- Writing as an integral part of a healing journey
- Each of our top 5 healthy coping strategies
- What to do when someone you know if in crisis
- A reading of an essay and a poem by Lindsey
“Lindsey Woodward is a writer who specializes in both poetry and personal essays focused on mental health. She is a bibliophile, feline enthusiast, nap connoisseur, and a scholar of an obsolete vernacular. She recognizes that memes are the most powerful medium for social commentary and expresses such through her limited social media presence. She studied Art History and English at Carleton University, but hasn’t been able to do anything especially meaningful with her degree so she should probably omit it from her bio. Born In Port Hope, when it still had a hospital, she’ll most likely die here as well. Not in the hospital. Because there isn’t one. Hopefully asleep in bed. Or smothered by kittens. Either or. “
Featured Tunes:
Rainy Weather by Hailiah
Hailiah is a musician who grew up in Cobourg. She’s been involved in music her whole life. Her music style has been compared to the likes of Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and Lana Del Rey.
She’s releasing her new single Hunters featuring Joel Wesley and Brizzy Beats May 1st. Currently working on a new performance project, you will be able to find her performing live this summer around Northumberland county!
Don’t forget to tune in to The Nothing Exists Radio Hour on Northumberland 89.7 to hear Hailiah’s brand new single and to listen to an interview with her!
You can find Hailiah’s event and release dates on her Facebook or Instagram page @hailiahmusic and you can buy her music on bandcamp.
The Night That Joel Got Shot– Winona Wilde
“A child of Iraqi parents, [Winona Wilde] was born Noosa Al-Sarraj and became infatuated with playing classical music on piano at a young age. At the same time, her country music-loving nanny planted the seeds for her future devotion to artists like John Prine, Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn, and by her teens she discovered a natural ability to write songs in a similar style.
Noosa explains, ‘On my first album, I was too afraid to be good. On my second album, I was too afraid to be real. This time I feel like I am as real as I can possibly be, and the songwriting is infinitely more vulnerable.’”
The woman who describes her music as “Canadian Feminist Folk” mostly calls Peterborough home and can be found playing just about all over the place. Winona Wilde‘s newest album “Wasted Time” just came out this past October 6. Lurk her facebook page, website, spotify, or bandcamp for all things Winona Wilde.
Blackout Love and Running Down A Dream by The Castor Troys
Featuring Cobourg’s own Bryson Emmons, The Castor Troys are a story-telling hard rock band from Hamilton, Ontario. Drawing inspiration from bands such as The Headstones, Social Distortion, Motorhead, The Offspring, and Iron Maiden, The Castor Troys have been around since 2013.
They have a full length album out called “Come Hell or High Water” and are currently releasing singles from their upcoming 6-track EP. The Castor Troys just released a new music video for their song “Blackout Love”, and have also previously released a Tom Petty cover, “Running Down the Dream”. You can find them on Spotify and iTunes as well as Facebook and Instagram.
Japanese Maples
If you don’t allow yourself
To sit with your grief
And to hold it with you
(Not forever, just for now)
It’s like taking a deep breath
And holding it
Until you suffocate your
Present self.
Maybe that’s the thing
About grief is it is something
Firmly situated in a painful
Present self.
And it may be more comfortable
To stay in the present with
The one I (past me)
Loved.
Because life without you,
Sometimes it seems like it echoes
Through dimensions beyond
My mortal comprehension
But my present self and I
Hold you deeply in
Every cell in my body
And that curve where my leg meets my hip
And the roots of Japanese Maple trees.
So maybe I don’t really need to be without you at all.
Lost on the trail.
We got lost on the
trail I’d been on many
time before, when the
signs weren’t all
posted where they
were meant to be
but we were exactly where
we were meant to be.
Nothing Exists. 