A Child Lost in the Forest

_{Poem and painting by Christine Lenoir Godin}

On the sidewalk there are cracks with dirt

In the broken walls are dead empty windows

From the sky the hot light

Between the walls, 

sweat in the  dark shadows

I thought I saw a forest in a dream

I woke up this morning, 

left  my mattress,  got off the floor

Went to look for food

I wanted to stay in the forest

On the sidewalk in the cracks in the dirt

I see this morning,

a green stem with a small yellow flower

In the dirt I gave it some of my rationed water

In my dream it grew into a forest

There are no more birds here now.

Painting: “End of Trees End of Man”
Size: 40 in wide x 30 inches high
Price: $ 3,000

“It is painted on high grade canvas. It has 2 extra coats of gesso then it had 3 under colour coats to build up the background. Then I add successive layers as I ‘build forward’. This gives the viewer a 3d effect or near to. I use knives to dig back into the paint but it is hard to do as acrylics dry very fast and still the coats need up to 48 hours to harden in depth. I learned this in my Art Fundamentals course with Ottawa School of Art where I obtained my certificate in 2014 at the age of 68.”

Christine Lenoir Godin

See more of Christine’s artwork on her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Lenoirpaintings

Word from the Editor of the Jessup’s Falls website:

The state of our tree cover is under threat: From the decline of old growth forests to the clear cutting of our forests for industrial and agricultural purposes. This is a global and national issue. We do what we can from a grassroots perspective, but without provincial or national regulations, there is great fear that the tide will not change in our lifetime. That the Anthropocene era we are in will spell disaster for the lungs of our earth.

Call or write your MP, make this a decision point in the next election.

Residents of Prescott Russell, can email their members of parliament at:

• Federal: Francis Drouin, Francis.Drouin@parl.gc.ca
• Provincial: Amanda Simard, asimard.mpp@liberal.ola.org

Visit the French Jessup’s Falls site for another work of art by the artist.