ANDREA THOMPSON
The Rusty Toque | Issue 11 | Poetry | November 30, 2016
EVACUATEA carpet of autumn plumage dark brown incandescence dappled with purple, amber and magenta, pools over the kitchen floor, crawls up the front of the old black cast iron stove dives into a top element slithers in open stoking orifice. A flow of auburn feathers rise and divide into two thick necks musculature disappears head first into dark interior. Plath and Sexton without the gas or decision. The pheasants didn’t stand a chance beauty trumped by meaty utility flightless wings plucked, down becoming stuffing for our warmth. We are cold. We are hungry. We always have been. Inspired by the mixed media installation by Kate MccGWire. NURSESIt’s not just the sickness you deal with it’s us. The furrow-browed what now? Hand-wringing where’s the doctor? Hallway-pacing how much longer? Exasperatingly persistent next of kin question askers. We’re the ones who come wheeling in with our red wagons loaded with high anxiety. It’s us with our doggie bags of fear with our tsunamis of frustration with our sudden thundering anger with our lightning strikes of blame with our flash flood of tears, it’s us who wear you down. And yes, some of you buckle leaving us baffled, mumbling you should get another job you should go somewhere else somewhere where you get to work alone or with plastic buckets or concrete or sheet metal you should go anywhere other than a hospital, with your bitter llife-owes-me ennui, oozing all over my loved one like an ice-cream cake left in the sun.
To those nurturing nurses
the wide-eyed, kind ones who are there when called and take care of it who watch over our sleep take care of us and hold our bad human weather like a sponge. To you to those ones I say think you from all of us. WONDERFUL WORLD!
They’ve invented a bath matt made of moss
that lives off post-shower water drops. They’re planting an orchard of free food in Seattle A jungle of tomatoes and carrots and apples. They’ve built bus benches into swings in Montreal that play music to the rhythm of your rise and fall. And in Milan, they’re erecting an apartment building covered with shrubs and vines and trees a high-rise complex of vertical foliage with the same ecological impact as ten thousand square meters of forest. These are not miracles they are simply good ideas. They’re simple obvious in hindsight. Why didn’t we think of it? I’ll tell you why – Because we’ve been trained into passivity led to believe we were powerless we became victims of learned helplessness swallowed the illusion in an ostrich-paloosa of head in the sand (cause it’s too sad to look and I can’t do anything anyway) apathy. We agreed – clicking away our freedom on a regular basis perhaps posting inconsequential statements on Facebook in half-hearted attempts at post 9.11 autonomy but really, who are we fooling? How many terms and conditions, how much fine print have I drown in while swimming the internet? At one point, I admit – I just gave up waved the white flag, and said For God’s sakes iTunes just give me the Black Eyed Peas’ latest release. I’ll sign anything. Maybe it’s a simple matter of alchemy that’s turned our apathy in to ingenuity. All I know is that suddenly we have begun to arise from our slumbering the word possibility teasing our lips like raspberry. We are beginning to turn our backs on you can’t and this is the way it is. We’re opening up. Blossoming like the awkward adolescents of humanity that we are. Our shaky hands on the door we are starting to push to believe in our own strength giggling like school girls each time we find it They’ve invented a bath matt made of moss! They’ve built bus benches into swings in Montreal. They’re planting an orchard of free food in Seattle. In Milan, they’re erecting a vertical jungle. And while government wars rage on everyday people around the world are surrendering hatred and venom the lure of a peaceful heart too seductive to ignore. These are not miracles they are simply good ideas. They’re simple, obvious in hindsight why didn’t we think of it? Because it wasn’t time yet we needed to stand – stupid and hopeless in darkness and be humbled grateful when we finally began to see the – halleluiah! Thank you Louis – yes you were right. The world is a big blue wonder where anything is possible as we begin to grow into our power as we begin to grow up all of us all around the world all at once. And we have only just begun. What a Wonderful World" lyrics by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss, as performed by Louis Armstrong. |
Poet, novelist, educator, essayist and spoken word artist, Andrea Thompson has published and performed her work across North America and overseas for the past two decades. In 1995, she was featured in the documentary, Slamnation, as a member of the country’s first National Slam team. In 2005, Thompson’s CD One was nominated for a Canadian Urban Music Award, and in 2009 she was awarded Poet of Honour by the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. In 2008, Thompson toured her one-woman show, Mating Rituals of the Urban Cougar across the country, and in 2011, was host of the nationally broadcast television series, Heart of a Poet. Thompson’s writing has been featured in a variety of journals and anthologies, and she is the author of the collection, Eating the Seed (Ekstasis Editions, 2000), the co-editor of the anthology Other Tongues: Mixed Race Women Speak Out (Inanna Publications, 2005) and author of the novel, Over Our Heads (Inanna, 2014). Thompson currently teaches Spoken Word through the Ontario College of Art and Design University’s continuing studies department and Workman Arts in Toronto. Website: www.andreathompson.ca
