“Situatedness (sic)” by James Witwicki
First Performed Live at Heart of the City Festival. October 27. 2016. Gallery Gachet with the Thursdays Writing Collective.
Audio by sound artist Lance Lim and poet James Witwicki:
Read James Witwicki’s text:
Situatedness (sic)
Think about where you are
Think about where you are
Think about it
Musquem. Squamish, Tsleil Waututh. Coast Salish Nations
10,000 years … ghosts in the atmosphere…
Where are you?
On stolen ground?
Shadows of shadows
Fake conquered lands
Some here, some already gone
Never failing
Who couldn’t carry on?
Never ending stand
Don’t fall across the strand
We are here.
That much is clear
We have been waiting, not overstating,
An historical heritage claim,
And we are not all the same!
—-
Think about where yopu are
Think about where you are
Think about it
Think about where you are,
Your “situatedness”
Geopolitically speaking, who are you?
Who will you be?
Religion enters into it
Those who do good. Those who are done to.
Which side interests you?
The conclusions that you drew when small
that all are not created equal
but should be, don’t you see?
the resolution small does not cease to be
may even feature more prominently
among the elderly
and I guess that’s me
—–
But what I see is important to me
What are you looking at?
What are YOU! looking at?
What do you see?
If you are staring at me,
What are you looking at?
—
Think about where you are
Think about it
Think about where you are
Your “situatedness”
Relative to me, relative to poverty,
My audacity, the sheer temerity
The insincerity, the casual levity
—
I’ll know no brevity
But sincerity rules,
At least back in school,
We’d make good as a rule
It’s all about the audience
Who is going to hear you?
Will they hear clearly?
Who knows?
Does it matter who hears
If your position is clear?
The things we hold dear,
As we steer a course away from here
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