“Mud pulls at your feet, the river hums under closed bridges, and the air thickens with thawed-out memory.”
Beneath still bridges and softened trails, the landscape invites us into a season of return—a ritual written in meltwater and moss, in the heavy pull of mud and the hush of slow water.
There’s a hidden spot just off the path near The Forks in Winnipeg—an easy-to-miss dip that offers a quiet view of the river and its bridge. It’s not a place you find unless you’re looking, or unless you’ve been there before. It feels like a secret shared between the land and those willing to pause. The bridge is closed now, but you can still get to the other side if you walk around.
And maybe that’s the point.
Spring doesn’t rush. It returns—again and again—with the same slow persistence as the river carving new lines in old ground. The beauty isn’t in what’s obvious. It’s in what comes back despite everything. The softened mud, the bare trees, the creaking of steel overhead. It’s in the patience required to notice it. To meet it fully, with both feet in the muck.
Experience the Moment—Online
This piece is part of Bridges: Waiting at the Water’s Edge, a new online exhibition that explores transition, memory, and place through northern and urban eyes. Created by Tony Eetak, a multidisciplinary artist working in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the work weaves poetry, visual art, and quiet observation into a digital space for reflection.
We invite you to step into this story—into mud and melt and stillness—and see what returns for you.
👉 View the full online exhibition here.
About the Artist
Tony Eetak is an emerging artist, musician, and culture connector from Arviat, Nunavut, now based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A founding member of the Art Borups Corners collective and its Winnipeg-based Arts Incubator, Tony has contributed to participatory art projects across Canada through organizations like the Arviat Film Society, Global Dignity Canada, and Our People, Our Climate. Named a National Role Model by Global Dignity Canada in 2023, his work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, and the OpenAI Researcher Access Program.
About the Author
