Ecopoetics Campus Walk was an ecopoetic journey of UBC campus, with short stops at particular places (see map) that featured poetry readings, silent reflections, etc. This afternoon event gathered us again in community with a goal to (re)consider our commitment to land-based ecology and to environmental education and built on the previous event, Ecopoetics in the Garden, which occurred June 15th.
This event and future happenings have been supported by the Ritsumeikan Seed Fund of UBC’s Department of Language and Literacy Education.
The afternoon began at the Orchard Garden at UBC’s Totem Field and dovetailed with the end of the Orchard Garden’s annual Summer Solstice Celebration. Susan Gerofsky led this first stop which invited us to write together and reflect on cycles of growing in the garden.
Margaret Mckeon hosted the second stop which took us to the Reconciliation Pole at the south end of UBC’s Main Mall, where we engaged in reflective writing. This poll was carved by Haida carver James Hart and installed in a traditional Haida manner through a public ceremony on April 1st, 2017. This pole honours the time before, during and after Canada’s Indian residential schools.
Carl Leggo brought us to a large Ponderosa Pine which serves as the namesake of the new Ponderosa Commons building that now surrounds it. Carl shared stories and poems about this tree as an anchor to his thirty years working on the UBC campus.
A stop at a Redwood tree and cedar forest was hosted by Claire Ahn. Claire shared of her experience with this Redwood which had been the target of violence for many years, known to students as “the punching tree.” This tree’s damaged bark has been wrapped with protective fencing.
Natalia Archaka gathered us around the Canadian flag at the north end of Main Mall and invited us to reflect on its symbolism, particularly for refugees and other immigrants seeking peace and a better life.
Kedrick James had us lie down in a field behind the Museum of Anthropology and imagine ourselves journeying through the earth. He shared stories of jumping down the adjacent cliff in his youth.
A number of poems and reflections from this event have been shared through our blog.
Poems from the MoA Cliff-Face, north boundary of UBC by Kedrick James
Poem from the Reconciliation Pole, UBC by Susan Gerofsky
Poem from the Orchard Garden by Susan Gerofsky
Reflection on our June 23 Ecopoetics walk through UBC campus by Margaret McKeon