April is Poetry Month and I was pleased to once again participate in the Poetry Walk put on by the Downtown Courtenay Business Improvement Association and curated by Artful: The Poets, who gather regularly at Artful: The Gallery. This year the theme was Family and my poem in your bones was requested to be featured on the storefront of Uranus Gifts. Many thanks to Siobhan Hayton at Uranus, and to everyone involved in bringing poetry and the written word into the real world to be experienced by many rather than a few.
When I heard the theme for this year I had to take a deep breath. Family… ooof — now there’s a loaded weapon in the slender holster of 6 letters. But in the endless layers of nuance attached to biological family, extended family, over-extended family and intended (chosen) family there did lie endless jumping off points for inspiration. With this particular piece, I reflected on what lies beneath; the aspects of our physical being or how we carry ourselves, that were imprinted on us the moment we came into the world. It’s the ultimate nature/nuture conundrum — how much of who we are do we get to control, or is it all pre-ordained? As the youngest grandchild on both sides of large extended families I have grown up seeing myself in others and have seen the impressive array of unique DNA arrangements possible. It is safe to say I have always had a clear picture of belonging to something larger than myself which has provided me a subconscious degree of comfort and stability. For that, I am thankful. So, this poem was one of acknowledgement to that which simmers beneath my skin.
Learn more about all of the Poetry Walk participants and listen to them read aloud their work here.
in your bones
beneath the skirts of time lie others come before
a tilt of head catching light, echoing another
the furrow of brow or speed of stride
something just there—smudged between freckles
behind the eyes you carry lie others come before
breathing soft air alongside you and
wondering at the world your fingertips touch
and in your bones they sing again
