MEASURE

By Jenna Waggoner

Sometimes the sky is orange.
It stains you. It stains the people passing.

flexing limbs like silver leaves,
bending between shadow and light.

Beneath the orange sky
things slowly slip away;
bills to pay, the daily race,
running out of time and space.

Some of the dirt slides
from your stone-shaped mind.

You become a moth
among moths,
milking the sun's glow.
Now you know
what it means to walk the line
between lives.

As sunlight nears,
could you measure
the feeling it carries?
Could you measure
the migration of a million crows?
Could you measure the hunger
of the bluest whale down below?
Could you measure
the space between us? Could you
hold the world
and never let go?

If you listen
when the world asks,
not in meters or miles,
but in a different language
(containing length,
depth still):
Will you hear
when the world asks to live again,
and again, asks to remember?

You see: when the river
shines her understanding
from the undersides of fish
an onto the surfaces of your eyes;

You'll recall the taste of shadow and light,
and remember where you came from.

Jenna Waggoner

How do you see art connected to nature?
Art and nature stem from acts of creation. Both bleed into one another. During my childhood, this meant feeling inspired to create art (usually in the form of poetry) while helping my mom tend to her garden. Spaces where art and nature overlap exist everywhere, and I find it incredibly difficult to ever separate the two. Nature can be art, and art can replicate, capture, or even become part of nature. It's all about perspective.

What inspired you to create your piece?
I felt inspired by days visiting the Beal [Botanical Garden] after class, while the sun was setting. I couldn't help but think of change (such as the sky changing color), our inability to measure this change, and how "natural" it can be. Even as the world turns and changes, and even as we humans do, our ability to reflect on and connect with our past selves, as well as our ultimate creative source (nature itself), can help us to grow. Acting from a place of reflective understanding can help us to be more considerate natural beings. We are not outside of nature. Nature is us.

How does engaging in your artistic passion improve your wellbeing?
Nothing feels more freeing than opening myself to the possibilities of writing. thinking deeply about my relationship with the world helps me to combat the isolationism that often comes with depression and anxiety. We are all living in an age where threats to wellbeing exist everywhere and constantly. Creating art fights these threats by promoting self-expression and more nuanced perspectives.