Terminus: Bear Pass Glacier by Bénédicte Kusendila

 

 

Honoring a Glacier

The following is poetry by Bénédicte Kusendila, in honor of Bear Pass Glacier. It was created as part of the Terminus glacier project.

 

 

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Meet the artist: Bénédicte Kusendila.

Belgian poet-activist Bénédicte Kusendila used to be a member of the South-African Afrikaans Writers Guild (Afrikaanse Skrywersvereniging). She received an M.A. in Germanic Languages, English and Applied Linguistics, from the Catholic University of Louvain and holds an M.Phil-degree in Education and Applied Language Studies from the University of Cape Town. Her poems, freestyles and short stories have been published in various international online magazines and have also appeared in printed literary journals and anthologies since 2015. E.g., Aji Magazine, Adanna literary journal, Extract, Gambling The Aisle, Gravel Magazine, Hawaii Pacific Review, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Spillwords, Some Antics, Haiku Crush’s “Best Haiku Of 2021” and “Best Haiku Of 2022” ... Sink!, her first short story, appeared in print in Rad Publishing's "Wanderlust" issue (2017). Sewn In Red, her debut poetry collection was published with Rad Publishing in 2017. Bénédicte was longlisted for the 2017 Cosmonauts Avenue Poetry Prize and has performed on festivals such as the Stellenbosch Woordfees in South Africa, in the United States and in Europe. In 2019, she toured Europe with the K{no}whate collective. For Victim Support Europe, she wrote Trust; the poem was filmed and used for their campaign against online hate speech. In 2020 and 2021, her poetry was published in pandemic-related art projects such as Alan Nakagawa's sound collage: Social Distance, Haiku and You (Orange County Museum of Art). Maintenant, Three Rooms Press' annual global leading publication for all contemporary DADA art & creative writing, features her poetry in their 2020, 2021 and 2022 journal, respectively. She also got featured on BBC Radio Kent’s Upload and performed during the New York Public Library International DADA Salon in November 2022. Bénédicte is an official Terminus artist.

You can see more from Bénédicte here: Bénédicte Kusendila Facebook page: Sewn in Red.

 

More about Bear Pass Glacier

Bear Pass Glacier is actually a series of small cirque glaciers at the head of the Hoh River drainage. The ridge above these glaciers divides the Queets and Hoh Rivers. Bear Pass is often used by mountain climbers traversing between Mt. Olympus and the Bailey Range. Though the 2015 view is taken from a lower altitude, the obvious loss of ice extent and thickness is still evident.

 

More Please

Learn more about Olympic's glaciers and our changing climate here.

Discover more from the Terminus glacier project here.

 

 

Full text with image descriptions:

Slide 01: Blue ice against black stone. Text "Bear Pass Glacier Renga by Bénédicte Kusendila."

Slide 02: Two large purple-blue dots. Text: "A renga originally is a linked poem from Japan. 5-7-5 poems and 7-7 syllable lines alternate."

"The switch to the modern English (originally American) 3-5-3 poems and 5-5 syllable lines is intentional."

Slide 03: A table of contents in text:
INCANTATION Slide 4
I. On the leeward of the mountain Slide 5
II. They dive for treasure Slide 8
III. One hiker (Balance) Slide 11

"HOH legend has it that K’wati is the shapeshifting “Changer” who went around the world making things as they are today. He is the “Transformer”, who taught man to fish for smelt fish and live in abundance."

Slide 04: Text.
"INCANTATION: have just gods been here?

thin ice and sacred silence

echo muses' avowal

bear pass glacier flows

white clouds claw at the mountain;

rain can’t get over.

all’s become quiet

snow descends from heaven: seen,

a single hiker"

Slide 05-07: Text:
"I. On the leeward of the

Mountain, snow disappears

Around Easter time."

when were K’wati’s days?

when his comb would strike the earth,

when cliffs were first created

when were K’wati’s days?

when his oil would fill all chasms,

when rivers were created

when were K’wati’s days?

of the bridge to Olympus,

Bear Pass glacier in snow"

frozen snow blanket;

glaciers kept gods from men

and gave life to fish

fish gave life to men,

so they could want more. never

would they take it all.

yet still, they’re preying.

snowflakes shift shape: fish to bear -

White Easter Europe"

Slide 08: Text:

II. “They dive for treasure when they are standing on top.”

Slide 09-10: A faded view of a snowy mountainside. Text:
"so, the Transformer

once more walks through rocky lands.

he’s crossed the Bear Pass

while, firm on their feet,

the Ancestor’s children hike

and drive. how they fly

over rainforests,

rivers where he caught men. men

whom he taught ‘bout fish

to live in their skin,

be. and not be gods, when not -

swim, don't re-create.

they dive for treasure,

when they are standing on top.

mountain of ice gods

. "

Slide 11-15: Text. “III. ‘One hiker’ (Balance)

shifting to balance:

now planted, then figured out,

forest or answer -

heavy hearts and busy minds

are bound to reflect its calm.

so, the Transformer

once more walks through rocky lands.

we’ve crossed the Bear Pass

wish to live again

while ice-fishing in our skin -

rivers carved new veins.

palms of frozen hands

hold our homes in glacial ice;

yet didn't we feel

so deeply (that)

our fingertips saw

old, and new?

did we feel?

the climb in our calves

blessed growth of close friends

all’s quiet:

heaven stretches out

one hiker -

by stats and lessons:

shapes of equity

. "

Slide 16: Blue ice against black stone. Text reads Bear Pass Glacier Renga by Bénédicte Kusendila.