Amber O’Reilly is a French-Canadian multilingual poet, spoken word artist, playwright and screenwriter born, raised and based in Yellowknife. Here is her original poem and video inspired by Walk to Tuk titled: Walk Together.
Walk Together
By Amber O’Reilly
isn’t
that crispy
crunch on snow
so sweet?
let the trees hold you
and the sky dwarf you
inhale, exhale thoughts with breath
let winter distill them
into a moving collage of clouds
every walk, notice
amid what is already there
something different, new
count the ravens, their onyx wingtips
iridescent laughter getting caught
in the phone wires
chortle chortle crunch crunch
bodies:
the original locomotion
feel muscles move under all those layers
even kilometers are a step-by-step process
swish swish crunch crunch
how far will you go today?
witness sunlight wax & wane
let simplicity permeate
the rhythm of days
rise walk sleep rise walk sleep
what is the measure of your challenge?
how many trees you will name along the way?
notice
where the town dissapears
and the world continues
notice what burnt
and what still stands
resilience is an icy scarf
a fur-lined hood
salt water frozen to eyelashes
bursts of fog
when you emerge
from the woods,
cars going by
and on the radio a song:
Call your friends
go outside
walk together
it’s going to be alright