Moving On
I dream of leaving
This place
This past
This thing I did
This life I lived
I dream of running away
And I will
But I hope
When I do
The winds will blow
Behind me carrying
With them
The few things
That are important
Like so many leaves
So many fragments of paper
Old newspapers I wrote in
Old playbills of plays I wrote
Old money spent
On things I no longer have
That didn’t matter anyway
And if you’re not swept up
In those winds behind me
Because you’re running your own way
In a different direction
(Even for the same reasons
You are running, I know)
I want you to know
I will carry your memory
In my heart always
Even if it’s the only thing
I manage to take with me.
~ Eugene Stickland
Eugene Stickland grew up in Regina where he eventually worked on an MA in English at the University of Regina, which was interrupted when he went to Toronto to complete an MFA in Playwriting at York University. Eugene wrote plays in Toronto for a number of years for the Act IV Theatre Company before moving to Calgary in 1994. While in Calgary, Eugene enjoyed a 10 year stint as Alberta Theatre Projects’ playwright in residence, writing 6 plays for the company in that time, along with others for other theatres across Canada. On leaving ATP, Eugene became a feature columnist for the Calgary Herald for the next five years. His plays have been produced around the world in many different languages. Queen Lear has just closed its second season in Istanbul, in Turkish translation and has been translated into Russian, with a production in Moscow anticipated next season. Eugene is currently working on several new projects, including a volume of poetry, “Nocturnal Emissions,†and a new play, “Those White Things in the Ocean.†Eugene was recently appointed writer in residence at Calgary’s St. Mary’s University College and teaches English at Alberta Business and Educational Services. He lives in downtown Calgary.
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