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Poetry in Motion: Joanna Streetly + All of Us Hidden
Joanna Streetly’s new collection All of Us Hidden (Caitlin Press) begins from a place of deep personal loss when her two stepsons and their boat disappeared into the ocean on an eerily calm night on the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC. Joanna’s poems ripple out to explore how time continually changes communities, the land, and our sense of self.
Today, Joanna reflects on how poetry, like music, carries us through transition and reads two poems from her book.
Poetry is a musical process for me. Music was the driving force in my adolescent life, with singing as a primary focus. And in music, every beat is vital, whether it is a note sung or the silence of a musical rest. Music fixes rhythm in you through repetition and practice, and transitions are also critical—the turn from loud to quiet, fast to slow, smooth to staccato. In poetry, then, for me syllables become time signatures, enjambment requires careful breathwork/punctuation to allow the reader to flow with the carry-over, repetition is a way to explore themes through multiple voices, braiding or resisting subject matter.
But as much as poetry is an inner ear/body experience for me, it’s also visual. Stanzas are like images, and white spaces are like musical rests—vital entities of their own where ideas seeded in the reader can flourish without further interference by the poet. When a poem isn’t working, sometimes I introduce a new image that may be unrelated to the work. Discrete lines of enquiry placed alongside one another can ignite new flights of thought. Where possible, I love performing or listening to poetry, because what poetry and music share is the power to move us and expand our understanding of what is possible in the world.
Joanna reads from All of Us Hidden
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Joanna Streetly grew up in Trinidad and moved to Vancouver to study Outdoor Recreation and Wilderness Leadership. In 1990 she moved to Tofino, where she has lived ever since. While transitioning to writing and editing, she worked as a naturalist guide and sea kayak instructor. Most recently, her writing can be found in Best Canadian Essays 2017, and in numerous anthologies, magazines and literary journals. She is the author of Paddling Through Time (Raincoast Books) and Silent Inlet (Oolichan). Her published work includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She lives afloat in the Tofino harbour with her partner, Marcel, and daughter, Toby.
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All of Us Hidden is available here or from your favourite indie bookstore.
