11 Comments
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Delise Fantome's avatar

I was thinking for a second she might try and like save the caribou baby, but honestly I fucking Loved how it went and how it ended. Like, no purpose except the carrying on of things. Beautiful in its cruel simplicity. Cruel in its neverending beauty.

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James Worth's avatar

Thank you very much, Delise, you saw exactly what I was going for. Really appreciate your kind words

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Nick Winney's avatar

Im not often moved to tears by anything but this prayer for a dying world and the beauty of nature really brought that throat gripping sorrow right up to the back of my eyes and a single tear escaped depsite my best efforts.

it feels like you wrote it all in one go because there are some places where the emotional flow is stronger than a disciplined and more careful wordsmithery might have carved some more deternined tautness or imagery into it, or avoided repetition, for example.

but this is not criticism just observation of the feel and flow... the result is truly moving and i just love this poem to the caribou.

(as an aside I actually used the word rangifer myself quite recently which gave me a little frisson)

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James Worth's avatar

thank you, Nick! you're pretty on the nose about getting it out all in one go (all in one day, at least). I didn't wanna complicate it with too much editing and rearranging, just keep it rooted in the emotion as it came to me. I'm happy to hear it read well.

Rangifer is a great word! These guys have so many names and they all feel correct somehow. Thanks for your thoughts, friend, they are much appreciated!!

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Nick Winney's avatar

it was really beautiful and emotive James.

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A.P. Murphy's avatar

Animality without humanity is blind, humanity without animality is empty.

Ambitious evocative style and a superb balance of tones between nostalgic, pastoral and apocalyptic. Great work JW

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Liz Zimmers's avatar

Sadness and beauty and death, the trifecta of the weave of our world. This was so beautiful and so painful, and it tapped right into the vast, still reservoir of alone-ness inside me (a reservoir that I speculate lies at the core of us all). And it plucked at the strings that connect me to the planet and its intimately impersonal cycles. Brilliant work!

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James Worth's avatar

thank you very much, Liz, that core is exactly what I was tapping at, I'm so glad it came across. (:

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Jessica W's avatar

Holy hell. This story is heartbreakingly beautiful. The unparalleled empathy you evoke shines in each perfectly crafted word and every powerful sentence structure. As I read, I ended up crying and sobbing at the sheer veracity and universal truth that comes through in your immaculately crafted storytelling skills. Tears are the highest form of praise in my book. I love your detailed descriptions of animals, and I appreciate the strong imagery of a young girl seeking something to believe in despite her heavy emotional pain and the burdens from her past. The collages are fantastical, beautiful as ever. Every word I read pulled at my tender heart strings. Thank you for sharing this powerful, tragic, inspiring and beautiful story with us readers.

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ARC's avatar

Civilizations fall, caribou march, grief lingers—nature stay undefeated. Watch or walk?

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Caroline Osella's avatar

Exhausted, without appetite, orphaned, night terrored. We feel it. But finally - empires will fall and caribou will prevail. May it be so. Thank you.

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