Echoes

written between Daniela Elza-and-Bonnie Nish

you have acquired an echo
a patch of wild meadow dappled with sun

this place between the living and the dead
even shafts of light cannot pin down

shadows disperse under the weight
of the new membrane of spring

souls of broken men and women
slip through our parted hands. dog-eared

found words stumble on the tongue
shape our unsuspecting lips

a music that runs like a river
under my skin. pulls me through
the eye of generations

stretches me so thin
I do not know where to begin
except that—

you have acquired an echo
trace marrow through water.   a blossom

opening into the moment’s aortal rush
pockets full of ripe peaches   cherries    plums
the colour of bruised skin.
 

process notes with Bonnie Nish

Daniela: Bonnie and I have worked side by side on many projects. We have hosted together, we have facilitated workshops, we have written together, organized and hosted a reading series. So it was only natural that I would invite Bonnie to collaborate on a poem with me.

Bonnie: The ease by which our writing flowed back and forth did not surprise me for this reason, but I was always surprised by what Daniela’s words triggered in me, what gems they unearthed alongside hers. In this dialogue, when you are so close, it can either work really well or very badly. Egos have to be put aside in order for the magic to happen. That has always been the nice thing about working with Daniela. It is a true dialogue, a true collaboration. We hear one another, letting the message and words take their time to sink slowly in so they resonate with each of our experiences. Then we respond, and wait, allowing time for the other person to sit with the conversation for awhile, and then speak.

Daniela: Later, when I was reading through the whole manuscript to submit to publishers, I moved a stanza from the middle of the poem to the beginning and somehow more of the images came into focus and acquired a bigger emotional landscape.