Submitted by: Kate
Materials: Canoe paddles of various ages; long length of weather-resistant wire; 4 rubber drum sticks; 2 tall trees; 1 or more playful folk.
2 weeks bundled together
all of us playing & working at home.
The anxiety of covid a constant low thrum in the background
when the kids are around
and an occasional high spike
when they are out of earshot.
Peace comes in moments of play,
in creativity.
In connecting with other maker folk.
Singling along,
with and not with
1000s of others online,
to Sarah Harmer’s golden lullabies.
Being brought to tears
by Ivan Coyote’s FB performance of
simple, perfect
stories of everyday epiphanies.
Laughing out loud,
in Ottawa’s cold spring wind
as my daughters play and play again
on the paddles strung as a xylophone
by Jesse Stewart + Matt Edwards
between 2 tall trees reaching for the clouds.
We find the oldest paddles resonate the longest and deepest;
their reverberations oddly cathartic.
The kids choreograph dance steps to generate a melody.
I watch, and smile at the way art makes connections between us,
even in a time that demands I sanitize the drum sticks
and steer us 6 feet away from our closest compatriots at the park.