This Little Light of Mine
Addena's Substack
Welcome back Everyone. I so appreciate you inviting me to join you once a month and letting me share thoughts, stories, news about what’s going on, and joining me in shining a little light on some really cool people and fun stuff. .
This past month has been a great month for creativity and poetry my Muse came visiting!
I sure am grateful for that.
In Last month’s Newsletter, I told you about the art exhibit event, Place Memory and Distance that I was involved in organized by Pandora’s Collective, and hosted by Kyla Borough, the Curator of Atilier 8.18 Gallery in Vancouver. For that event, five selected poets were challenged to create poetry from their response to some amazing art by: Allison Keenan, Vivi Maidinak, Indeet Sharon, and Simon Fleming.
It took me a couple of weeks of just looking at the Art (but not writing) and searching my soul to evoke my honest responses to them hoping those responses would do Justice to honour their works.
I guess it's only fair after sharing all about the process and sharing my excitement of the uniqueness of the experience, that I share some of the poetry I wrote for the Exhibit.
I'd like to share them all, but I'm only going to share one, because I want to enter the others in a writing competition so I can't publish them here. I'd love to hear your thoughts/feelings .
Here is the Painting , and my written poem, followed by a recording of my reading the poem I wrote in response to words and feelings Allison’s painting ”Reset' evoked.
Reset Artist: Allison Keenan
I want to soak in all of your beauty
let it seep into my pores
Seer it into my memory
so I play it back like a movie behind my eyelids
when I go blind
If only I could wrap my arms around this catch-your-breath splendor
Clutch it close to my bosom and rock it gently,
like a precious child
I want to soak in all your beauty
before I wake from this marvelous dreamscape to find its disappeared
Yes!
let me dive into this Oasis.
It’s stunningly perfect
Picasso would give a nod to the pigments
Karoack would yell: stop its done!
Let me take in all your beauty
every range
and every change of color
now
before the Sun sinks down into the sea
before it gets cruelly
snatched away..
like a slave’s child.
Besides .. when I awoke
I’d have to admit its perfection is but a grand illusion
Reality is: The pool’s chlorinated air is in constant mortal combat with the essence of the Sea’s breeze
Young Trees, droop, and sweat, in the unforgiving Desert.
Under the heat of the Sun their leaves scorch,
grow limp,
and sag,
and pray for mercy
While their Cactus brothers’ laugh at their frailty
(Cactuses can be so cruel !)
But
For this moment .. come…
I’ve set a small Tea Table for you in 50’s Housewife-style
Pull up a folded chair and we’ll B.B.Q. Tofu
and share what we imagine we see in the shapes of the clouds that have just formed
And mourn the loss of the Pink Lepidoptera.
c Addena Sumter-Freitag
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Most of the rest of my days, the last month, were spent working with a collection of genius musicians and Artists on a project for a Canada Council grant. I'll share more about that project when it’s completed. It was hard work, but work that I LOVE..
A big bonus for having a month mainly filled with writing was that it was a great distraction from the daily news, politics, war, protests against war, and witnessing a government’s deliberate erosion of civility, and their erasure of so many rights and protections: Women’s rights, Human Rights, Voting Rights, Equal Justice. The erosion of these rights pose a great threat to Democracy, and most importantly … Peace.
All this got me thanking of my generation’s philosophy of: Make Love, Not War.
It got me thinking about us flashing Peace Signs, to show our philosophy and support for peace, so ….I got out my old writing files ( I’m talkin' OLD ) of all the poems that I had written from those times that I still have filed away).
To my surprise, although the two poems I'm going to share were written decades apart, they are not so different from the voices (and themes) I write from/about, now. Here is an example of what I mean:
The Fifty-first State
Peace
A Sign in frequent use
Yet a state that is constantly in abuse.
Peace.
In an honest man’s thoughts and his deeds
In a Hypocrite’s mouth if it suits his needs.
Peace.
An effort to love Fellow Man
Useless utterance if you just don’t give a damn.
Peace.
Don’t indulge it because it is ‘In’
War and Bigotry weigh just the same as sin.
Peace.
© Addena Sumter-Freitag
Another Generation of Freedom Fighters
Threaten me
Taze me
Zip and tie me
Drag me away
You won’t silence my voice
Intimidate
Arrest and jail me
Even locked up tight
You can not hide me
I am no longer invisible.
Threaten me
Handcuff me
Drag me away
That won’t muzzle me
You only shed more light on the truth
of the urgency to fight
For equal justice and freedoms
Shed light on the truth of your senseless wars
On the urgency to protect these sacred lands
And the purity of our waters
And the air we breathe
Brutalize
Dehumanize
Drag me away
But realize
The eyes of the world are on you now
More hearts and minds are open to the truth
That ultimately, you are willing to kill us all
To keep your systems and your Status Quo
That ultimately,
You are willing to kill us all
In order to have the power to control us.
© Addena Sumter-Freitag
I am really excited to Shine A Little Light on “The Drake Eatery”. It is known as “Victoria’s Eatery and Craft Beer Parlour”, (although they have other liquor and specially created cocktails) The Drake Eatery is a fabulous beyond belief experience!
Our friend Susan Isaacs came to Victoria for a visit with her son, Ben, who works at The Drake Eatery. She invited us to meet her and her son, Ben and his partner Kaleigh, and some other friends who would all be there. We were excited to join them for drinks and appetizers. We all ordered different dishes to share and all you heard from around our table from everyone was “Mmmmmmmns, …oooohs ,… Wow! And, Oh my God… Delish!”
To eat there and spend time conversating surrounded by the great energy of its patrons, (most of them regulars and returnees) is a perfect way to spend a hour, or two, because the Eatery is designed so that people can have conversations without music so loud that prevents everyone from hearing each other as you enjoy your drinks and food.
The place is really cool. It is decorated with Art, cool eclectic antiques and collectible items. Its interior is designed with various options of seating areas, from the bar area, to a Chaise and stuffed chair seating area in the middle of one section. Oh, did I mention there is an big outdoor covered deck eating and drinking area with heaters, so you can sit outside in all weather?
The food selection varies every week depending on the local fresh farm veggies and fruits in season. I can’t wait to return there, and I can’t wait to introduce it to my friends who visit Victoria. I’m only wondering why the Friends we have here never took us there already! …but that’s enough from me.
Let me share its Website link below. Click on it and you can go see what I’m raving about:
The Drake eatery & craft beer parlour
A few pics from our evening there. We kept ordering, and sharing, and were so busy mmmmming and ahhhhhing while we were eating that I only took a couple of photos .
Irvin loved The Marvelous Grilled Eggplant Taco. No photos of me (I’m laughing because they would have all been me with my mouth full, or me drinking beer (which you might know I don’t usually drink, but this beer was just so great!) I took all the photos here, sorry, lol. they are what they are.
So, let me know if / when you try The Drake Eatery. I’d love to hear your experience, and …you’re welcome. 🥰
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Well, that’s what was about it for me last month. I hope you all had a good month.
Don’t forget, I’d love to hear from you. June and July are going to be filled with Festivals and music, and Food Fairs, and Farmers markets will be starting. It’s exciting! So I hope you all get out and enjoy Summer. So far, weather-wise it hasn’t started yet.
Don’t forget, please leave me any comments or share anything with me that you’d like to share.
I appreciate all the comments I’ve gotten so far. Let’s me know you’re out there and reading my newsletter. Don’t forget writing is a lonely job , so to knowing that you’re out there and reading my ramblings is really comforting. I appreciate you all.
Before I go I want to remind you if you are liking my poems and stories please check my Website for my books.
Peace.
and Love.
addenasumterfreitag.com
“Peace”. We all thought Peace in the world would actually arrive. Didn’t we? Loved reading everything. I understand the loneliness of writing but I’m always in your corner sending good vibes 🥰
Thank you So much Serene. Your words are do encouraging. I’ll try to keep shining my light where’d I can 🥰