undercurrent
Rita Wong
- 96 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
undercurrent
Rita Wong
About This Book
The water belongs to itself. undercurrent reflects on the power and sacredness of water—largely underappreciated by too many—whether it be in the form of ocean currents, the headwaters of the Fraser River or fluids in the womb. Exploring a variety of poetic forms, anecdote, allusion and visual elements, this collection reminds humanity that we are water bodies, and we need and deserve better ways of honouring this.Poet Rita Wong approaches water through personal, cultural and political lenses. She humbles herself to water both physically and spiritually: "i will apprentice myself to creeks & tributaries, groundwater & glaciers / listen for the salty pulse within, the blood that recognizes marine ancestry." She witnesses the contamination of First Nations homelands and sites, such as Gregoire Lake near Fort McMurray, AB: "though you look placid, peaceful dibenzothiophenes / you hold bitter, bitumized depths." Wong points out that though capitalism and industry are supposed to improve our quality of life, they're destroying the very things that give us life in the first place. Listening to and learning from water is key to a future of peace and creative potential. undercurrent emerges from the Downstream project, a multifaceted, creative collaboration that highlights the importance of art in understanding and addressing the cultural and political issues related to water. The project encourages public imagination to respect and value water, ecology and sustainability. Visit downstream.ecuad.ca.
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Table of contents
- pacific flow
- borrowed waters: the sea around us, the sea within us
- mongo mondo
- the wonders of being several
- declaration of intent
- fresh ancient ground
- journey to the west 西遊記
- night gift
- too long a sacrifice
- a magical dictionary from bitumen to sunlight
- remembering the future
- unsung service
- medicines in the city
- body burden: a moving target
- 雨 flush
- pounce
- pollution dodged?
- motherboard
- flash memory
- north shore sewage story
- lupus, a doubled being
- for bing ai
- threefold return
- sunset
- q’élstexw
- take a st.and
- alpha bets
- inner compass, outer radar
- dispatches from water’s journey
- for Gregoire Lake which way does the wind blow?
- detritus
- dada-thay
- sleepless in Somba K’e
- what remains
- #J28
- holders
- References & Influences
- epilogue: letter sent back in time from 2115
- Acknowledgements
- Statement about Becoming Worthy by Marika Swan