(Nature @ U of A, other seasons)
Edmonton’s river valley aside, it is difficult to find much natural beauty in this city’s crumbling infrastructure and wasteland appearance wherever construction is ongoing. One favorite retreat for years had been the U of A early mornings, weekends, especially Sundays. U of A, though lately, has admitted more business and technologies while wilfully short-changing what the broader soul and mind needs–Humanities and the Arts, what with the recent talk of the u tearing down the Humanities Centre! Much like the downsized and deconstructed public schools sorely lacking in the Arts, we’re seeing an increasing starvation of the spirit and soul, locally and provincially.
No “it” ain’t just all about money and business. Nature is, likewise, being squeezed out of this province with unconscionable UCP mining, etc. And so, I find, more and more Nature and what sustains the spirit is to be found in smaller scenes and moments within this million plus metropolis and province running off the rails. As in the previous poem and the previous birdbath poem, the inner pleasures more and more are in the smaller details like the u fish pond and the flower baskets and pots that used to grace the u when its focus was more integrated with nature. Yup, scared places are few in this burgh.