the wheat has ripened, the lavender is fading
white jasmine breaths into grey signs of rain
in your lively days, you were light and laughter
now i know you as a shadow across the face of the moon,
an empty house in my heartland
© 2015, poem and illustration, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.
For once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language;
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Fisherman in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.
– Pablo Neruda
—from Extravagaria (translated by Alastair Reid, pp. 27-29, 1974)
I first encountered Shane Koyczan’s work when he presented his poem We Are More at the 2010 Winter Olympics at Vancouver. Like so many others, I was enraptured and sought out more of his poetry. At that time all that was available were a few YouTube videos. Since then, Shane has been on many tours and has published three books and a studio album. He is fast, furious, funny, compassionate and human. His ideals are real.
Shane is noted for his poems against bullying and about cancer, illness, loss, and eating disorders. One video of Shane’s anti-bullying poem To This Day (a TED video) has had nearly 1,900,000 views alone. Having said that, the version I like best is below, which has 7,000-plus views but is accompanied by dance and is delightfully artful. Shane’s Amazon page is HERE.
“We so seldom understand each other. But if understanding is neither here nor there, and the universe is infinite, then understand that no matter where we go we will always be smack dab in the middle of nowhere. All we can do is share some piece of ourselves, and hope that it’s remembered. Hope that we meant something to someone” Shane Koyczan
it’s “drought-full” she says,
my japanese friend –
as though it were “dreadful”
which it is, dreadful
the five-year drought
i hunger for rain
drought-full, she says again
pensive, as we stroll B Street
in search of a café, a mojito
sugar, mint, caffeine, ice!
a black gentleman passes
with a nod at her he says
. . . . .Nǐ Hǎo
shizuko keeps walking,
. . . . .says nothing
the man looks puzzled, a bit hurt
he’d meant a courtesy,
greeting her in chinese,
i stop, rest my hand on his arm
“she’s japanese,” i say
by way of explantion,
he smiles then, and
on we walk, shizuko and me
on this hot drought-full day
seeking relief in a mojito
© 2015, poem and photograph, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved
Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine 