Another Moment

[we] started to cold o bit

but not that much

    it is just enough to feel like [we are] here and now

in this damp, peaceful urban woodland

    [we] feel live again

creator of life

time feels different here

    [we] close [our] eyes

and see with [our] other senses

has it been 20 minutes

or 2 hours?

[we] can only tell

time by the slow

progression of [our]

feet getting colder

has it been 2 years

or 2 decades?

    [we] can only tell

by the other lives

    that are growing up around [us]

then

a gentle visitor passes through

the forest remembers the land

and [their] relationship to [them]

[they remember] changes over time

and movements

    in a language long forgotten

    before the time we learned to lie

[we] don’t remember

much, but here

that doesn’t matter

the forest

remembers

everything

[we are] going to miss rain

    [we] will feel in [our] trueself

    in nature’s own abodé

[we are] going to remember

these 4 people who share

the rainy forrest with [us]

जीवन आता है। lifes comes around

जीवन जाता है। goes around

Authors

A collaborative place-based story from Gateshead Riverside Park, transcribed here as crafted and captured in place on Saturday 09 December 2023, between 11:00 and 13:00 GMT, by Chirag Chheda, Lotte Dijkstra, Isabel Mills, Ceren Senturk, Diji Solanke and the more-than-human beings and vibrant matterings present.

•

HERE, NOW

•

TIME FEELS DIFFERENT HERE

•

THE FOREST REMEMBERS

•

WHEN WE RETURN

• HERE, NOW • TIME FEELS DIFFERENT HERE • THE FOREST REMEMBERS • WHEN WE RETURN

For a moment, we allowed ourselves to experience urban forest time. We investigated the more-than-human connections in and with Gateshead Riverside Park, using our bodies, personal stories, and collaborative place-based explorations. During and after each prompt, we record our responses. This is the urban forest story we uncovered.

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