April Bencze
Bio
Ḵwiḵwa̱sut'inux̱w Ha̱xwa'mis First Nation territory (Gilford Island, BC, Canada). Creekwalker. Writer. A lover of plants, rivers, the interconnectedness of all things, and the woods.
@aprilbencze
longlivethecoast.ca
Stories (9/0)
Waking Up In Earth's 2020's
I dreamt of coho salmon and secrets. Of the tide going out and a world drained dry. The ghosts of mighty rivers, lakes, and oceans howled naked in great craters; existing now only to those left to remember. Bottoms of former bodies of water lay bare, while a few red coho could be seen shining like stars in the muck. I scrambled down the steep trough to scoop up and return the stranded fish to the water, if I could ever find it again. Fat, stunningly beautiful fish wriggled in my embrace. My arms became slippery, and adorned with dark red scales. Scales the colour of spent venous blood returning to a heart.
By April Benczeabout a year ago in Earth
A Friendship Like No Other
I’m tied to the dock as a gale grows outside the protection of the bay. Snow is piling up on the sailboat, but tonight I’m not enjoying the warmth from the woodstove aboard Capricorn, the 27ft sailboat I call home. Instead, I’m worriedly perched on her aft deck, peering through the falling snow and into the darkness. Searching.
By April Benczeabout a year ago in Petlife
What The Quiet Gives Voice To
When I say it is quiet, I mean I can hear everything. Wings on brackish water, becoming wings on salty air as the goldeneyes take flight. I can hear the tide slackening after it’s swift rising; swelling so much as to embrace the bottom-most branches of overhanging cedars. A tide that reaches to the sky to meet the Wolf Moon in her fullness. The shape of a V forms overhead and I hear Mary Oliver’s voice whispering the hushed words of her poem, Wild Geese.
By April Benczeabout a year ago in Poets
- Supported By: Untamed Photographer
Pacific FeathersSupported By: Untamed Photographer
View print sizes for Pacific Feathers by April Bencze: Story Behind the Photograph: Pacific Feathers The eagle is a bird of prey who evokes symbolism as much as any other iconic species of wildlife. I know for me, eagles have always been beacons of freedom, of strength, and of precision. They are birds worthy of respect and reverence.
By April Bencze2 years ago in Earth
- Supported By: Untamed Photographer
Fishing with Spirit BearsSupported By: Untamed Photographer
View print sizes for Fishing with Spirit Bears by April Bencze: Story Behind the Photograph: Fishing with Spirit Bears There's something slightly impersonal about a rod and a reel after watching bears fish for salmon. Long claws, sharp teeth, and a quickness you would not assume from a bear slowly meandering their way up a river. The dance of predator and prey awakens something primal in us, oft dormant in those born to a city. The relationship between life and death; raw and integral in reminding us of the interconnectedness of all things.
By April Bencze2 years ago in Earth
- Supported By: Untamed Photographer
Among AstersSupported By: Untamed Photographer
View print sizes for Among Asters by April Bencze: Story Behind the Photograph: Among Asters The ocean reaches many arms to embrace the land. Long, graceful fingers of saltwater stretch to meet fresh, flowing rivers. River and ocean mingle to make brackish water. Ocean breathes the tide in, and out, in, and out. Hiding and then revealing the shore’s secrets with each ebb and flood. We call these places estuaries.
By April Bencze2 years ago in Earth
- Supported By: Untamed Photographer
The Dawn HowlSupported By: Untamed Photographer
View print sizes for The Dawn Howl by April Bencze: Story Behind the Photograph: The Dawn Howl It is a sound that pierces your soul and echoes through your flesh; the landscape reverberating along with your bones long after the wolf lowers his head. The call of the wild; the way I know the howls will sound the same whether I am there to absorb them or not.
By April Bencze2 years ago in Earth
- Supported By: Untamed Photographer
Isle of the WolfSupported By: Untamed Photographer
View print sizes for Isle of the Wolf by April Bencze: Story Behind the Photograph: Isle of the Wolf I met a wolf who held oceans of peace inside of them. This doesn’t mean their teeth aren’t capable of tearing flesh. It means we creatures who live on this earth cannot be measured by such scales as good and evil. These binaries cannot begin to house the complexities and paradoxes that exist within each one of us.
By April Bencze2 years ago in Earth
- Supported By: Untamed Photographer
The Lone SockeyeSupported By: Untamed Photographer
View print sizes for The Lone Sockeye by April Bencze: Story Behind the Photograph: The Lone Sockeye “Salmon shield us from fear of death by showing us how to give of ourselves for things greater than ourselves.” - David James Duncan, My Story As Told By Water
By April Bencze2 years ago in Earth
