Poem by Gagan Kaur
The longer I looked, the more I could see
That fence line whispered to me.
As we immigrants walk fences too,
Through lands unknown and winters new.
We check the weak places deep inside,
The homesick tears we try to hide.
I wanted to walk away,
But the painting made my homesick heart pause and stay.
For the rancher’s careful stride,
Reminded me of how we survive.
One weak wire, one careless step
All this keeps us up at night,
As all that matters could be lost by first light.
My memories hold me through when the winds blow,
Some days, I feel stretched thin by the wind,
But I hold on, just like that fence, and still grow.
Like that brave dog walking beside,
And something in that simple scene
Showed me what belonging means.
The accent that marks me as unknown,
While two worlds tug at what is home.
The parts of home that slowly stray,
Still live in me, come what may.
As I still gather piece by piece,
The fragile map I call peace.
For home is not one place alone,
It’s every path your heart has grown,
And every step through wind and pine,
While walking life’s long fence line.
The Peace Gallery North hosted an ekphrastic writing contest, letting participants create literary art after viewing visual art.
Ekphrastic writing dates back to ancient Greece, where Homer’s The Iliad even describes the shield of Achilles over 150 poetic lines.
The Peace Gallery North provided a space for writers to describe some of the art on view in the gallery in May’s exhibition from the Peace River Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists, “Peace River: Home Is…”
Local Gagan Kaur wrote a poem based on the painting Walking the Fence Line by Jim White.
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