Laundry Day:
i want to lift warm towels out of the dryer
with one hand and to wave the neighbours with the other
i'd stop with the laundry basket on my hip and say oh come on in
you'd know me and i'd still be in my pyjamas
and the kids would come screaming socks sliding around the corner
and i wouldn't be sorry for the mess
we'd sit and you'd reach for a towel to fold
The Waves are a Song I Know by Heart:
each day i live in
the space between what my (great) grandmothers hoped for
and the lives they lived i
have learned each day how to move away
from a life you can't take a depth breath in.
​
my grandmothers waitied at home
for the men to come back from fishing boards and
my mom warns me about riptides
she teaches me how to swim laps at the pool and
in the ocean i swim out deep until i can't see anything but waves and
i come up for again and again
artist statement
Each of these poems was written as a part of my final project for EDUC. 469: Indigenous Pedagogy in Art and Language. For this project, we were invited to creatively reflect on our identities, with particular attention to our cultures and generational memories. In each of my poems for this project, I focused on a rejection of individualism in acknowledging how my life is inherently shaped by those I share it with. With this community-focused lens, each of my pieces is a reflection of my personal connections and ties with others. This lens is important to me both in my personal life and as a pre-service teacher. Building genuine connections with those in my community is one of my core values; this remains true in my teaching practice.
In my first poem for this Anthology, I focused on the future. In this poem, I looked towards the life I am working to build for myself. This poem focuses on being able to show up authentically as oneself and feel a sense of comfort and safety with others. This poem takes place in the home, but this belief remains important to my classroom philosophy. It is important to me to create spaces for others to show up as who they are, and to ensure I model this authenticity. Each of the poems I have submitted here are focused on the values that are important in my own life. As a pre-service teacher, I ensure that students’ writing assignments invite them to reflect on their own personal lives and values. Looking towards the future in my own classroom, I will consistently work to create a space where students feel safe to be vulnerable and show up authentically in their relationships with others.
In my second poem for this Anthology, I focused on the past. In this poem, I reflected on how my life is shaped by those who have come before me and the knowledge and values they have taught me. This poem reflects an ambivalence towards this knowledge, in simultaneously accepting and rejecting these values. This acknowledgment of how we are each shaped by our past, culture, and families is necessary for my understanding of my students and their identities. My own reflection on how I am shaped by my culture and family allows me to continue building empathy and understanding for students’ pasts and cultural values. This poem is based on a personal experience of tension between the desire to be self-defining and to honour my connections to others. This was a meaningful part of my own growing up, and I see this similar experience reflected in the youth I have worked with.