Walkabout

the paintbrush is small
because I want to
make small marks
rows of dots
like the aborigines
going walkabout

each dot a new thought
leading to
lines of inquiry
lines of longing

go this way
go that way

lines of inquiry
requiring more and more
dots

tiny marks of wonder
tiny marks of longing
tiny splashes of story

dots
on multicoloured landscape
each dot a day of life
each dot a new thought

leading to
lines of inquiry
lines of longing

filling the canvas

go this way
no, go that way

inquiring this
inquiring that

requiring more and more
dots
requiring inquiry

row of dots
like aboriginal walkabout

the paintbrush is small

I want to
make marks
make meaning
mark meaning

tiny marks of longing
tiny marks of story
tiny marks of wonder

walking right off the canvas

March 18, 2025
Ev Ward

This poem was written during a Liezel Graham writing workshop. As a prompt she showed a photo of wild colour painting by Hilke Macintyre Under A Tree. It so reminded me of Australian dot paintings.
That reminded me of a piece of fibre art I made in 1998 for a group exhibit called “In Our Own Image”, London, ON.
Every/Body Tells a Story
𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦, 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘈 ‘𝘶’ 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘯 ‘𝘴’ 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥. 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Leaf stamped recycled fabric, hand stitching, stick, dogwood twigs, paint, jute twine, lucky stones collected on a hot day on the beach at Willow Point, Manitoba.