Elizabeth Copeland
WE
We overcome the eddies of gloom
That snag our thoughts in a downward spiral
By radiating possibility
We treat the poison of prevailing apathy
By taking measured, wholehearted action
Towards accessing our collective birthright
In its death throes, the patriarchy
Is exercising its only remaining power
The power to destroy, but
Given time and our willing help
Nature can reclaim her dead spaces
The soil will once again
Hum with the community of living organisms
And the remaining ancient forests will
Stand with us in solidarity
(Fuck the hero’s journey
No one person can save us now)
Elizabeth Copeland is a writer, theatre artist and arts educator who lives in Sackville, N.B. with her husband, musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland. Her poetry, short stories and personal essays have been published in The Furious Gazelle, Forge Journal, and Circa-A Journal of Historical Fiction, to name a few. Her novella, JAZZ won the 2013 Ken Klonsky Novella Prize and was shortlisted for the 2015 ReLit Award. She regularly facilitates creative writing workshops in school and community settings, serving as faculty at such places as the San Miguel Writers Conference and the Knowlton Literary Festival. Elizabeth is the 2018 Writer-in-Residence for Joggins Fossil Cliffs working on a suite of poems that explore what the natural world has to say as we stand on the cliffs edge of environmental and social breakdown. She is currently facilitating a series of community-based workshops called ‘Daring to Hope at the Cliffs Edge’ and is the winner of the 2018 Environmental Leadership Award for her community work.
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