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| Chihuly Glass Installation, New York Botanical Garden |
Musing…
“Whenever I read a poem that moves me, I know I'm not
alone in the world. I feel a connection to the person who wrote it, knowing
that he or she has gone through something similar to what I've experienced, or
felt something like what I have felt. And their poem gives me hope and courage,
because I know that they survived, that their life force was strong enough to
turn experience into words and shape it into meaning and then bring it toward
me to share. The gift of their poem enters deeply into me and helps me live and
believe in living.” - Gregory Orr, author of Poetry as Survival
Charise’s Turn:
Poet Irina Ratushinskaya, who passed
away on July 5, was imprisoned for three years in a Soviet labor camp during
the 80s. She continued to write secretly while confined––by writing poems in
soap (with the burned tip of a matchstick). She would memorize these poems,
and then wash them away to avoid discovery.
From “I Will Live and Survive” by Irina Ratushinskaya:
“And I will tell of the first beauty
I saw in captivity.
A frost-covered window! No spy-holes, nor walls,
Nor cell-bars, nor the long endured pain –
Only a blue radiance on a tiny pane of glass…”
Get Fired Up:
It’s not only poetry that is life
affirming––it’s any product or expression of your creative spirit. In these
days and times, we need all manner of fierce art to help shoulder the burdens we
endure, and to connect us to all of humanity.
