4th Annual Art and Design Foundation Exhibit

Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario, is having its 4th Annual Art and Design Foundation Exhibit. The exhibit opened last night and is running until April 16th. The show, coordinated by the students, is a display of students’ work—in different mediums.

I am honoured to have had my poem, Old Friends, selected to be a part of the typography exhibit, which uses type to create visual art. The artwork was done by student artist, Olivia Ste. Marie.

If you’re in the area please take the time to stop by and enjoy the artists’ work while showing your support for the students and the program.

Old Friends

Dedicated to Chris MacKay (1973-2013) and Roger McCarthy (1945-2013)

Haunted by memories,
stories of the past—
the person
you used to be,
the person
I used to be.

The friends
of our youth
made us up,
moulded us
out of clay.

At our best,
when we find our courage,
and draw on their strength,
we’re nothing more,
and nothing less,
than a collection of all
the best parts of those who
in someway touched us—
spirits that passed
through us.

They shaped us
with every laugh,
tear,
and encouraging word;
made us better
than who we believed
we could be.

Our friends are
a part of our soul
as sure as our heart is
a part of our body.

The heart knows nothing
of trivial matters such as
distance in space or time,
it beats on everywhere we go,
its echo remains
long after we leave.

We are stardust,
drops of the ocean,
and memories.

The stars and ocean
reclaim us;
memories grow
into stories;
every laugh,
tear,
and encouraging word
shaping the listener
into a better person
than they believed
they could be.

Hear the ocean;
see the stars;
they have
something to say:
a lesson,
a story;
they’re old friends,
a part of us,
inside and out;
they make us up,
mould us
out of clay.