legacies 2010

Legacy. An interesting word in many ways - a word with incredible weight and many layers, bringing different things to different people, depending on their perspective.

The Penticton Art Gallery will be hosting a show in January around the legacy of the 2010 Olympics on the province of British Columbia. True to form, artists are invited to participate in whatever medium they choose and capture a voice of what legacy will live beyond the days of games. I have been invited to participate and I have humbly accepted. I'm a bit nervous now, to be honest. An art exhibition? My writing? My preconceptions are getting in my own way.

My own legacy should come to mind in times like this, but it doesn't, really. Perhaps the concept of my own legacy is actually in me on a regular basis, so tied up in my concern for capturing my true voice that I can't tease it apart. Somehow, though, it doesn't seem appropriate to be thinking of my legacy. But, then again, maybe it's something we should all be thinking - even as we grocery shop. Active participation in our own lives.

This is the very, very first draft of a work I'm considering using in my wee contribution to this show. It's the first of two pieces of prose that I hope to use in two mediums: print and audio. The technicalities of the audio might be a bit beyond my reach, but I'm going to try.

For your consideration...

~Jeannette

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(untitled)

I see myself reflected in the differences
Between us, in the small spaces which
Crowd the edges of the frame

Unspoken dreams, unrealized fortune
Or fame; these are not the reasons
You wake each day at six

A still, white surface greets you
In harmony with visiting thoughts
Stealing into your head, briefly

These borrowed minutes are few
And far from where you wanted
To be and where you are

But you are now
Precisely where
You need to be