A video poem - performed and written by Tanya Davis. ( tanyadavis.ca )
Music/Arrangement - Devon Ross
Video - Millefiore Clarkes/Oakar Myint
OTHERING
Did we other the earth?
In othering it did we cover up evidence of our birth
from this place, to this world
In obscuring that, did we start to believe in our own distance
did we conceive of a hierarchy for confirmation bias
in which our existence takes precedence over everything else’s / everything else around us
Did our survival, once assumed, acquire characteristics of glamour
wherein we convinced ourselves that we could always do better
look shinier, have more
Did more become more become more become more
did we become bored with pursuing our desires
what for, we had questions but couldn’t find answers
kept striving for something to fill in the blanks
Were we uncomfortable with empty space
did it remind us of where we came from
that inexplicable beginning, way past the science of sperm and egg meeting
be it divine creation or big bang bringing us into being
we couldn’t make it make sense
We worked ourselves into a frenzy
over this mystery
we couldn’t see the forest for the trees
couldn’t see the trees for the leaves
couldn’t see the leaves for the lines upon them
couldn’t see the lines upon them and upon our palms as the same thing
couldn’t see lines drawn from here to cosmos and back again
othering, therein our suffering
