Art is everywhere, if you choose to look.
Lately, as the weather becomes a slightly more pleasurable each day, I am taking the opportunity to get back out on the streets of Toronto to observe what really happens here.
Last Thursday, on the way to an appointment, I was fortunate to notice something I had never seen before.
Just about any day you’ll find Ross Ward hunched over on Yonge Street tending to his art. The ‘Birdman of Toronto’ has been a fixture on these streets in various locations for well over a decade, and during each day he crafts, and sells, palm-sized birds.
Once only a hobby — this is now more than whittling — Ward carves out shapes of common birds from reclaimed wood. There is always a piece in progress, and always a small flock for sale on his concrete workspace.
Perhaps in our day-to-day journeys, we don’t look close enough at all the people. We don’t often observe enough to see art just happening here and there on our landscape. I’ve wandered this street how many times and only last week did I notice the man. I saw him again on the weekend.
Appreciating the beauty of his work, I bought a bird as a gift for someone . . . or maybe a souvenir for myself to one day remember my time in this city.
Couldn’t we all use more memorable hand-made art?
Poem In Your Pocket
A Different View
I see what I see
I see you
unfiltered
honestly
as you are
now
I see myself
with unsettled eyes
through
the words
past the lies
I see what I see
I see what I
want to be
I see you breathe
I see you
believe
I would like to see
myself
differently
© 2018 j.g. lewis
April 26th is
Poem in Your Pocket Day, a day to celebrate poetry by selecting a poem, carrying it in your pocket, and sharing it with friends and strangers.
Share a poem wherever the day takes you; in the workplace, coffee shop, shopping mall, or out on the street. Poetry can brighten your world.
You may already have favorite poem, but I offer you this one in case it’s not handy.
ENJOY TODAY (and tomorrow too).
You can always find poetry at:
mythosandmarginalia.com