Poiesis Life Collection: Studio

“Art for the Sake of the Soul” Collage, DS

Studio (Vignette)

Studio mine

Sunshine

Plays shadows

On easels

Canvases waiting

Paint pots piled on

Table grey spotted with

Gesso white while

Fan whirs air

Down from the

Sky light moss

Dotting ivory panels

Channels for thoughts

Of unseen shapes

Colours of

Imagination

Pouring from brushes

Old and cheap

Creating the priceless

Images of a purple

Piccasso-ed you.

Meandering through the Writings of Others as Lament Practice: The Summer of Bitter and Sweet

“Campfire Ready for Later” Phone Photo by DS

Here are my explorations:

Ferguson, Jen. The Summer of Bitter and Sweet. 2022

993 words

*** This book is about an ice-cream shack, yes, but it’s also about real traumas teens face. *** Indigenous and Black teens *** Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people *** If you’re not ready that’s okay *** find healing in Lou’s story *** RED: Winter isn’t colorless . . . impossible buds on trees *** We’re a sight. Three pickup trucks traveling down the highway, each with one of the Creamery’s picnic tables overhanging the tailgate. And me, in the lead . . . my best friend Florence laughing . . . we’re tough enough. *** We’re giggling over the song lyrics *** No one asks where Wyatt, my boyfriend, is this morning. *** Florence wipes paint from my face carefully. *** Survival is always in the back of our minds. *** We kissed forty-six times. *** You don’t have to like giving BJs for you to … just pretend. *** Sometimes, life gets super clear. *** These days I hate lying to my family. *** Mom walks toward the fridge, but she stops to run her hand through my hair. *** A crow in one of the trees caws down at us. *** Like he didn’t call me his Native girlfriend . . . Why do you have to point out he’s Black? *** Wyatt, he shrugs. *** Why can’t he just be a man of mystery? *** It doesn’t bother me, King says staring at me, Black isn’t a bad word, Lou. *** Our customers, mostly teens, begin to dance. *** Calgary has a grad program I like though. *** It was always easier talking to people like this man when I was pretending to be white. *** ORANGE: The least popular flavor of ice cream, but one of the most popular sorbets. *** Today I unbraid my hair to wash it. *** I’m going to have to learn to swim in these new waters. *** It’s for the best, her being gone. *** Blue ink bleeds across the page like a wound. *** YELLOW: Dandelion wine or golden currant . . . All life exists on a spectrum, after all. *** Keesha kee taen *** I’m pushing to free myself of the mess *** He’s not himself, swimming in rough waters – in shock. *** By the time the tear at my hairline is stitched, I am all woozy. King helps me *** Sweat gathers on my upper lip. *** But secrets can burn down friendships too. *** What was he driving, do you remember? *** I can’t stop thinking about the fire and what will happen when he learns I caused him that pain too. *** GREEN: typically oregano. It’s spicy, for people who like things both hot and cold. *** We own a lot of people a lot of money. *** A firefly picks up outside. We watch it buzz and glow *** This part of me works but every time I try to imagine doing it with someone – with King – I tense up. *** Her long red hair is in a high ponytail *** BLUE: usually wild blueberries. It’s rarity that makes true blues special. *** It’s quiet in this house. My mom’s off-key singing to pop songs is missing. *** Today’s tee is bubble-gum pink and says, There is no Planet B. *** Lou, look. I asked you out and you basically ran. I get it. *** In this town I’m too Black – hell, on the prairies I’m too Black – but in my ma’s hood, at Westview in my classes, in my friends’ eyes, I’m not always Black enough. *** When I moved to Toronto, I had to learn to live in a place that is not all white space. *** BLUE: Borage flowers and honey make a delicious sorbet. *** Dear Daughter, Eighteen years of patience is something you cannot fully understand. I am not a patient man any longer – not after my time in the cage. *** The choice is yours – be my fierce warrior girl. *** When I make it back to the barn, to read the letter again, to memorize it, maybe do exactly what Florence suggested and burn it – the letter is gone. *** INDIGO: Saskatoon berries should be on every commercial ice-cream company’s rotation. To start a Michif/Metis Indigo, first you’ll make a classic jam . . . so it forms ribbons of flavor. As always, trust yourself. Try things. See what works. *** The tornado has me all out of sorts. *** She was drunk, Lou. *** He’s teaching me Toronto slang. I’m teaching him Dublin slang. *** Ty, I tried the tough-Native-chick thing with you for almost a year. It didn’t fit. *** The flies would prefer to land on or warm bodies, their little legs tickling us. Off in the trees, a crow watches us with interest. *** I take a break to scroll my mom’s Instagram. *** Text her. *** I’m more worried about you than if it was a bougie art museum like MOMA. *** Intrusive thoughts *** VIOLET: Fresh chokecherries are poisonous. Use this newfound power at your discretion. *** My mind stalls here, betraying me. *** We’re moving slowly, like goldfish in a tiny tank. *** I tongue the roof of my mouth and even that small pain doesn’t hurt as much as it feels exactly like living. *** VIOLET: At the far spectrum of the rainbow, we expect the most saturation. If you’re violet, you’re a violet. *** I turn my phone off. Something I never do. *** Clothing, deodorant, a few books, the braid of sweetgrass I was gifted at graduation, and with my bag hung over my shoulder, and my tent tucked under my other arm, I leave this house. *** Canola is in the air. *** Hand to G-O-D, he nods, then whispers, one day, Lou, I want you to read all my stories. *** She’s outside my tent. *** THE YELLOWS: Like a good dandelion wine, friends are sunshine. *** 

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