October production diary: In order to hear the birds...

I cannot lie to you, gang, I’ve tried to write a poetic prod diary twice this month, and each time, by the time I’ve neared the end, the things I said no longer felt true. This iteration is less cohesive than the others, but I don't think I'm pretending to know everything, which I take as a good sign. Everything is in flux right now – which, at the very least, has been gorgeous in my neighbourhood.

As I bet is the case for many of you right now, almost all my attention has gone to the ongoing siege on Palestine. I’ve been taking a lot of long walks through the city – as I always do when writing gets tricky – and from apartment blocks to trees to bakeries, everything has reminded me of the scene on the ground in Gaza. I'm reminded of a quote that's been circulating from the poet Marwan Makhoul:

In order for me to write poetry that isn’t political

I must listen to the birds

& in order to hear the birds

the airplanes must be silent

I don’t have anything new to contribute to the discussion, but I want to thank you, deeply and sincerely, because your support has allowed me some time to breathe & stay informed. If I were picking up shifts in some kitchen right now, I don’t think I could keep it together.

—

With that said, I’d like to tell you a little about my next video.

I’ve noticed this weird kind of story popping up all over the place lately: situations carrying on well after everyone has been told they've ended. To make that a little more concrete, I was thinking about how in Canada, a huge chunk of COVID-19 deaths have come after provincial governments declared that "the pandemic is over", which got me wondering: "Why do we decide crises are 'over' in the first place? What do we gain by looking away?"

I've pulled a bit of a Jacob Geller move and drawn connections to other cases where we're told a situation ends before it really has: "failed" transitions, carceral punishment, and "the climate apocalypse", to name a few. I'll be talking about the true-crime-adjacent webcomic "What Happens Next" and the surreal coming-of-age movie "Barber Westchester – and interviewing the creators of both! – if you'd like to check 'em out before getting spoiled.

It’s called Transition Regret and The Fascism of Endings. It runs about 35 minutes, and it’ll be out in early November – I initially said October 31st, but my carpal tunnel is going crazy.

—

While I have you, can I recommend a book? Well, I'm gonna. It's "Becoming Horses" by Disa Wallander.

At a bookstore over the weekend, I grabbed this off the shelf on a whim, only to find myself totally enraptured by its beauty. It tells a simple story of two girls moving through a floaty landscape, learning about its inhabitants and taking in the sights. Theme-heavy and meditative, mixing photography/drawing/painting/collage to create vibes you just wanna drown in. Highly recommend if it sounds like your kind of thing.

Okay, that's all from me! Thinking of you all. Sending good vibes. <3