The question about writing poems about attention and beauty during atrocity is so important, maybe because it reveals another kind of terrorism that comes from war and violence. It’s unspeakably worse to be bombed and starved and separated from loved ones, but we can’t discount the loss that comes from feeling like we can only speak of the darkness. When I worked on the border leaving water for folks crossing and giving medical aid, sometimes I’d meet someone literally walking through the desert, motivating each next step by staring at something beautiful way up ahead. Sometimes they’d talk about things I couldn’t even see. I think your poem helps teach/remind people to notice like that maybe?
Thanks for this, Ryan. “We cannot discount the loss that comes from feeling we can only speak of darkness” So beautifully put. Yes, I think Elie Wiesel and Viktor Frankl would agree with you. Beauty can pull us forward when nothing else will.
Andy, I am tired of rage and chaos and violence. Of course we have it, of course we express it, experience it, worry about it. But I am tired of it. I want hope and softness and beauty despite it all, and I think that's a big part of what poetry has the ability to give us, both as writers and readers.
so appreciate this comment, Sarah. And I appreciate that in this community there is the space for it all, for acknowledging beauty while trusting that we’re not all just sticking our heads in the sand. And beauty (and poetry) is what will keep us going when we’re feeling dog tired. So appreciate your presence in this space!
The question about writing poems about attention and beauty during atrocity is so important, maybe because it reveals another kind of terrorism that comes from war and violence. It’s unspeakably worse to be bombed and starved and separated from loved ones, but we can’t discount the loss that comes from feeling like we can only speak of the darkness. When I worked on the border leaving water for folks crossing and giving medical aid, sometimes I’d meet someone literally walking through the desert, motivating each next step by staring at something beautiful way up ahead. Sometimes they’d talk about things I couldn’t even see. I think your poem helps teach/remind people to notice like that maybe?
Thanks for this, Ryan. “We cannot discount the loss that comes from feeling we can only speak of darkness” So beautifully put. Yes, I think Elie Wiesel and Viktor Frankl would agree with you. Beauty can pull us forward when nothing else will.
"a loom of light where the
fibers of being are woven
into the cloth of belonging."
These lines are exquisite! This is such a lovely poem.
Thank you, Jenna
Andy, I am tired of rage and chaos and violence. Of course we have it, of course we express it, experience it, worry about it. But I am tired of it. I want hope and softness and beauty despite it all, and I think that's a big part of what poetry has the ability to give us, both as writers and readers.
so appreciate this comment, Sarah. And I appreciate that in this community there is the space for it all, for acknowledging beauty while trusting that we’re not all just sticking our heads in the sand. And beauty (and poetry) is what will keep us going when we’re feeling dog tired. So appreciate your presence in this space!
At the same time, here,
brutality, beauty. Both.
Warrant attention.
Thank you for this thought haiku, Marisol