Central Park-ing

Evening. People come out
of unaired rooms, of breadboxes
& bachelors
with flickering TVs
& the temperature drops
a blessed degree.  On the edge of the field, a cluster
of women in hijab, one of them fluttering
a white paper fan. The women clap as a toddler wobbles
towards them, as if she’s in the middle
of a dance floor.

By the elderly fountain
that had its hips and knees, its star finial finally,
finally replaced, an old man offers to sell me
his life story
but gives the latest chapter away:
his plan to send an iPhone to his daughter in Iraq
before he dies. He rolls his eyes dramatically, all the teeth
in his impish grin gleaming
in the last of the light.

Behind him, a girl bows
so reverently
to the splash pad’s cold jets her forehead
touches the ground. Nearby, two stumps.
Growth rings almost lost
in the long grass. The arborist kneels
& puts his nose to cut edge: elm!

Evening. As the wet footprints
on the fountain’s stony lip finally,
finally disappear, the women cheek-kiss farewell
& summon single children out of the masses
of arms & legs running after soccer balls
on the AstroTurf.

* * *

Here's one of three parts of the poem I wrote on Central Park for the One Trunk Festival of New Hybrid Performance.

We only had a week to come up with something, so I suppose it's only fair that the performing arts companies now only have a week to make my poem, and GMB Chomichuk's three drawings, and Natanielle Felicitas' cello composition into a performance of some kind.

See you September 8 for the performance? Here's the official blurb:

"Winnipeg’s artistic communities unite to present an afternoon of performances inspired by one another’s interpretations of the city we call home. Featuring the work of Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers, Grant Guy, Deco Dawson, Keri Latimer, Natanielle Felicitas, Melissa Steele, Ariel Gordon, Chris Rutkowski, Andy Rudolph, Andraea Sartison, Tanja Woloshen and more.

Join us for a town hall meeting following performances to discuss the development of an annual hybrid performance festival and the growth of collective creation and interdisciplinary work in Winnipeg."