The End of Eco-Poetics

And just like that, June is over. Eco-poetics month at the Town Crier draws to a close as, here in Montreal, we drudge through the depths of a humid heat wave. Sprawled on the cool hardwood floor, facing the brunt of a static oscillating fan, I reread this month’s posts and I’m impressed by the diverse forms through which each of our contributors have expressed their understanding of what "nature" means to them, and what they inevitably mean to "nature."In Sandra Huber’s poemand accompanying photo essay, she leads us Dante-like through times and better times, through the shattered realities of city life and internal life, accompanied by darkly nostalgic photos of the ruins of her ancestral home. Just as in Clementine Morrigan’s piece, we’re asked, where is safety found, if not here? Morrigan’s affecting memoir shows us how practicing witchcraft, “connect[ing] with the living universe”, can lead us to a home within nature and, therefore, within ourselves.Canisia Lubrin’s gorgeous poem begins with a microcosm—the flight path of a short-lived mayfly—before exploding this subjectivity to consider global legacies of oppression. She brings history into coexistence with every present moment in the way that only poetry can, “demand[ing] answers if only for the few hours I have left”. If Lubrin’s poem is eco-poetics in practice, then Sabrina Scott’s excerpt from Witchbody acts, in part, as a treatise. Through text and illustration, Scott explores the interplay between species and objects which becomes heightened in urban environments, asking us to consider “who acts and who is a backdrop for action.”Ola Kado’s essay offers us a guide to urban foraging—a journey from her homeland in Poland, to the lush forests of British Columbia, to the little-known wildernesses hidden within Montreal. As in Adèle Barclay’s poem, which strives to reconcile the urban and the "natural," the milkweed and the fire escape, Kado reveals the medicine which our homes and homelands have to offer. She reminds us that herbalism is our birthright, and that the power to heal ourselves lies in our collaboration with "nature."

... asking us to consider 'who acts and who is a backdrop for action.'

To my surprise, nearly all of our contributors this month identify as witches. As a practicing witch myself, I was thrilled to feature the voices of so many talented and dedicated practitioners, and I loved hearing their takes on the topic of eco-poetics. Through varied genres, we spent the month exploring and criticizing notions of human exceptionalism and the systemic exploitation of human and non-human lives.I do, however, feel as though there was a lack of BIPOC voices in this month’s conversation, and that’s partially my fault. Rather than soliciting individual people to contribute (many of whom could not because of scheduling), I regret not putting out an open call for the month so that more people would have had the opportunity to contribute. Given this month’s pertinence to issues of ownership of and relationship with land, I especially regret the lack of Indigenous voices in this month’s discussion. I want to take this final opportunity, then, to share some of the voices who have inspired me over the past few years, including Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s article “Land as pedagogy,” the essay “#whiteveganwitches” by jaye simpson, the collection WHEREAS by Layli Long Soldier, and the writing of Robin Wall Kimmerer. I encourage you to read these pieces and to financially support the work of Indigenous authors and artists. I’m looking forward to continuing discussions of eco-poetics in future years with Indigenous voices in the lead.Thank you to the Town Crier for having me as their guest editor this month, with especial thanks to the hard work and flexibility of Jason Freure and Kirstie Turco. It was humbling to see all of the work that goes into running this blog and I’m looking forward to seeing all that they produce for us in the future.

Jessica Bebenek is a writer and transdisciplinary artist currently living on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory. Her latest chapbook, Fourth Walk, was released from Desert Pets Press in Summer 2017 and k2tog, her collection of knitting patterns for poems, will be released from Berlin’s Broken Dimanche Press this summer.www.jessicabebenek.art @notyrmuse