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Confluence by Rae Crossman

By League of Canadian Poets | March 9, 2022

Poem name: Confluence Poet name: Rae Crossman Poem begins: For R. Murray Schafer rivers flow into rivers reflection scatters into spindrift wind wails into psalm so music flows into the bloodstream dance into the bones words breathe a brush stroke quivers a pulse ritual turns the great wheel round a hunter antlers a stag an old woman withers into a girl a carcass births a young man ritual turns the great wheel round stars jewel a crown wolf rhythms the moon and the clans are restored rivers flow into rivers reflection scatters into spindrift wind wails into psalm so music flows into the bloodstream dance into the bones words breathe a brush stroke quivers a pulse I am a tributary of you you are a branch of me our waters swirl into clouds we river we rain End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Rae Crossman “Confluence” pays tribute to composer, writer, and environmentalist R. Murray Schafer, who left this earthly world in August 2021 but whose creative fire continues to illuminate. He advocated for a flowing together of all the arts — The Theatre of Confluence — with the aim of creating a transformational experience aligned with a reverence for nature. Previously published in Descant (Spring 1995), The New Quarterly (Winter 2007) and was set as choral music by Jennifer Butler, 2013 Living on the Haldimand Tract in Kitchener, Ontario, Rae Crossman writes poetry both for the page and for oral performance. He has published poems in literary magazines, dramatized them on theatre stages, in classrooms, and around campfires on canoe trips. Collaborative projects include musical compositions, and theatrical pieces set in natural environments. “Confluence”, inspired by Crossman’s experiences in R. Murray Schafer’s Theatre of Confluence, was written as a tribute for Schafer’s 60th birthday and set as choral music by Jennifer Butler for Schafer’s 80th birthday.

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