Culture Days continued in Prince Albert on Sunday as local poets gathered for a free poetry walk at the riverbank to generate some positivity.
The event gave writers a chance to present their work based on the theme Positive PA. It even drew plenty of responses, including a few from former residents.
“I haven’t lived in Prince Albert for quite a few years but what I want to emphasize was what holds people here,” said Sharon Bird, one of the Poets that read her poem during the Poetry Walk. “When I think of what holds people in places that they love, there’s a feeling. Prince Albert gets bad press, as does many places I have lived in, but there’s an underlined belonging.”
Bird worked in the school system when she lived in Prince Albert and credited that experience for strengthening her ties to PA. She said it was important to be involved given this year’s theme.
“My process was simply to think about what it meant to me,” said Bird, who is originally from Ontario and now lives near Christopher Lake. “Now that I don’t live here, what are the things that I remember?
“Yeah, bad things happen. Good things happen too. It’s like any place… It’s about people. We all make our mistakes. We all have our failings, but there’s an acceptance here too. You just have to walk down Central Avenue one day and you can see that. You see every echelon. Kindness and belonging were the things I wanted to emphasize.”
During the last Poetry Walk in July, organizer and poet Lynda Monahan said the poems will be on display right until Culture Days ends in the fall. She said the poems will be available all the time for the residents of Prince Albert to access.
“It’s available all this time. People can wander and have a read and it also highlights poetry, which is really important to me.”
Along with the general theme of Positive Prince Albert, Monahan said it also encourages people to enjoy the city.
“It highlights all kinds of good things,” she said. “It gets people down here.”
Bird has submitted poems for two previous editions of the Poetry Walk, but couldn’t attend the most recent one. This year she was surprised to have her poem in the first box.
“I didn’t realize that I was the first because I wasn’t here at the first one, but it’s good to go first,” she said. “I am not a natural speaker. I like to write, I like words.”
Bird also expressed her gratitude for being a part of the Walk and thanked Monahan for making this possible.
The Pop-Up Poetry Walk was put together as a continuation of the “Hope” poetry project by local poet Lynda Monahan. The walk winds its way from the start of the Rotary Trail by Riverside School towards Diefenbaker Bridge with 10 poems displayed along the way.
Monahan also promised that as long as the city is willing to do it, she will also be ready.
—with files from Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald
