I don’t question my instincts.
My desire, each spring, to go home.
I don’t long for legs or lungs
or other pieces of a whole
that don’t complete me.
I am complete.
With my rainbow flag of poetry
written across my fins.
Not left to right, or up or down –
But aligned with water,
Oriented upstream.
-Emily Cayer
Through the Eyes of Nature –
Submissions open Aug 24 – Sept 7, 2020
This is not a contest. It’s a race. A race against time, to write new stories while honouring the old.
We are living in a time of crisis – of climate, of faith in ourselves, of our bond to nature. We might feel helpless or think it is out of our hands, but there is so much we can — and need — to do during this time.
“In such a moment, writers, artists, poets and storytellers of all kinds have a critical role to play.” – Paul Kingsnorth
We don’t want you to just step outside your own shoes. We want you to step outside your human form. Be something else– a soaring falcon, a dormant seed, a thundering river, a thousand-year-old glacier that has just begun to melt, a ripe apple just about to fall from its branch.
Write us a poem, take a photograph, show us a new perspective, weave a story in which we are but a small strand. So step outside yourself. What can you learn? And what will you teach us?
Rules
· Tell a story from a non-human perspective – this can include poems, short stories, and photographs
· The non-human perspective encompasses everything from animals and plants to mountains and stones to clouds and rain
· A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to ARCHELON (The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece)