Episode 28: Can You Imagine?
Hi everyone, I hope you’re doing as well as you can be today. This week’s poem and episode are a bit of a mantra/reminder to carry in your pocket, especially as things feel heavy. The month of June is celebratory in many ways, including Pride, Juneteenth, Indigenous History Month, and Men’s Mental Health Month, among many more. And we know it’s important for joy and advocacy to coexist, especially in our student communities. With this, comes many emotions, and right now, to put it in the simplest terms: things are hard for all of us, and in many ways, feel like they won’t ever change. This poem doesn’t say “It’s going to be okay” but my hope is that it offers you some hope, and a new way to imagine/dream—our most powerful skill.
I’ll share it with you now:
Isn’t it interesting
how, when,
you’re running or walking or
simply moving forward,
in any way, any motion,
you can see tunnels—
the future in front of you
(imobile & stagnant
floors, buildings, traffic lights,
pavement, sidewalks, stairs,
fire hydrants you’ll trip over,
lamp posts you’ll pass).
You can see them coming
before you arrive—
slow or fast—
but they’re always there,
waiting,
as if to say the future
has already been lived.
But perhaps it’s not as
terrifying & deterministic
as it seems, you think.
Sometimes,
we need a foggy morning,
visibility vapourized,
to be shown
that time’s punctuation—
these pillars & hallmarks
before you—
can not only be occluded
to help you pretend
they’re not there,
but changed & shaped
if we dare
to imagine when they’re not in view
& not the tools we choose to use;
if we reach out our arms
& open the fog like curtains or
blank fieldnote booklets
& see what isn’t yet
& write down that blueprint.
What do you see
if you pepper & season
the future with everything
that lives & moves?
Don’t let anyone tell you
that imagining &
dreaming is only for children—
these are perhaps most powerful
when we remember how
to wield them as young adults.
The greatest gift
you can receive or bestow
(upon anyone or anything)
is to be believed in.
Breathe the words in. What do they make you feel or think? How did they connect with your senses? What colours or symbols did you notice? What meaning did you draw? Metaphors? Interpretations? Clarity? Messages?
