Fiona Tinwei Lam

Some wonderful draft poems about creatures of all kinds were written last Thursday afternoon at the weekly summer poetry in the park workshop held behind the field house at Oppenheimer Park! I displayed postcards with images of various creatures from land and sea, as well as some of my son’s old toys (sundry plastic dinosaurs and bugs and wooden animal blocks) to inspire us to write about creatures that can delight, comfort or frighten us.

I read my poems, “Ode to a Crow” and “Wolf” as examples, and also shared terrific poems by others included on a photocopied handout, such as Margaret Atwood’s “Song of the Worms“, Yvonne Blomer’s “Barfly” (about a polar bear), Seamus Heaney’s “Postscript” (an encounter with swans while driving), and James Wright’s “A Blessing” (an encounter with two ponies). These poems illustrate how different points of view (first person, second person or third person) can be employed in a poem to good effect. We also talked about how paying poetic attention to chance encounters with birds, animals and insects can transform us in unexpected and profound ways.

The group wrote and shared draft poems about farm animals, former pets, dolphins, mice, cockroaches, and several other creatures, and created a list of creatures they might like to write about in future. The Oppenheimer field house staff generously provided us with a jug of refreshing iced tea and a lovely tray of assorted baked treats to sustain the group during three intensive rounds of writing.

I also co-facilitated a similar workshop the day before with Gilles Cyrenne, coordinator of the Downtown Eastside Writers Collective, through the Gathering Place Community Centre, which is holding weekly poetry workshops in July at Emery Barnes Park at 1170 Richards Street downtown. A bountiful array of fresh fruit, cookies and beverages was also served during this workshop. (See poster below for details.)

Please consider participating in these free, public workshops led by a different local poet each week. Each poet will employ various prompts and creative approaches to tap into writers’ creative potential. The upcoming workshops are sure to be stimulating and fun!

Oppenheimer Park Poetry Workshops, 1-3 pm

Emery Barnes Park Poetry Workshops, 2-4 pm

Thank you to Carnegie Centre’s Community Activities Coordinator, Nichole Lockwood, and Park Board staffers Jenn Taylor and Danielle Beaton (who took the photograph above), as well as the fieldhouse volunteers for assisting with the Oppenheimer Park poetry workshops. It was also great to work with Marnie Fleming, the librarian at the Gathering Place Community Centre who organized the Emergy Barnes Park poetry workshops. Thanks also to Brenda Racanelli, Community Arts Programmer with Department of Decolonization, Arts and Culture (Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation) for supporting these workshops.