The cycle of life has provided a great deal of inspiration throughout a Nanaimo poet’s career.
Kamal Parmar, Nanaimo’s poet laureate since 2021, has found a title for her latest work that echoes her love and appreciation for nature.
Vanishing into the Blue, which came out in February, is the writer’s third book of poetry, and ruminates on the cycle of life.
“We see it in the seasons all around us. The transitions in the colours and the climate: spring, summer, fall and then the solace of winter,” Parmar said. “My poetry is intimately linked with nature and its subtle mysteries. Vanishing into the blue means that life is something that goes on and on and on. And then it just ends. And then it starts in some form or another.”
The poet, also an active board member of the B.C. branch of Canadian Authors Association, said her aim with this collection is for readers to slow down and extricate themselves from the “fast-paced and hectic life” they lead.
“Look at the beauty of nature and the sea, the pulse of life that reverberates in all of us,” she said.
The poet laureate has also been working with the City of Nanaimo on a project that will hopefully get the public to interact with and appreciate nature. Lines of poetry and QR codes have been installed at five spots throughout Bowen Park that, when scanned by personal devices such as cell phones, lead to a virtual poetry readings on the City of Nanaimo’s YouTube channel.
“I feel a strange sensation come over me, a wave of euphoria washing me off my feet, taking me higher and higher into a realm of happiness,” Parmar said in a release from the city. “I feel joy coursing through my veins. I am speechless.”
Poetry in the Park QR codes have been installed since April and the poet laureate’s Vanishing into the Blue poetry collective can be purchased online www.amazon.com.
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