“Snake Dance”
Collaborators’ Q&A
What is behind your choice of this piece of art in response to the Actions at Standing Rock?
Artist Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr.: The light on that stretch of the river that day made me think of the coming winter with hope, the cleansing scour of the north wind, the soft pink of the bluffs and banks surrounding the icy blue of the water presaging Peg Duthie’s December reflection.
What led you to this poem about the Actions at Standing Rock?
Poet Peg Duthie: Water protectors have called the pipeline “the black snake.”
Quite a few parades take place between Advent and Lent. (I have kin in New Orleans.) Quite a few puppets in power.
Many members of my family lived most or all of their lives under martial law.
What do you think is the role of art in regards to real-world, real-time events? In other words, what makes a “successful” occasional or political piece of writing or art?
Poet Peg Duthie: Writing sharpens what I think and amplifies what I feel. Success: when my arranging of words moves someone to say “Oh!” or “Yes!” or to demonstrate love or to be more here.
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Note: This is a Broadsided Press “Responses” feature in which we ask writers and artists to create work in response to a contemporary issue, question, or concern. In this case, the 2016-2017 #NoDAPL Water Protectors at Standing Rock.