poem: Letter to a Soul Sister, April 16, 2013

poem: Letter to a Soul Sister, April 16, 2013

A Chapter by Marie Anzalone

for EB

 

No, I told the economist who asked,

  I do not think making my jewelry

      is going to solve world hunger.

    Nor, I thought, will my poetic ramblings

penned on the back of receipts

  for the large green teas I bought

       with spare change scrounged from

the laundry, and nursed all afternoon in

    Starbucks, on a day I was supposed to be working,

       but felt I had something a little bigger to do-

   and I was just craving human company

in a world where past 5 pm that needs to be bought,

     stamped, ticketed, and sold-

nor will THAT ever change the world.

 

But we do not attend to our needles and wires

    to get rich, we merely let them   

   escort us to someplace fine and focused

      and interior- a cultivation

of mindfulness that helps us to see

         that much more clearly the bullshit

     that is constantly spread around

  our feet as we try to merely walk

     forward into the light from within

so many lightless places.

 

And the poetry, well- her presence

   is sometimes the only life-affirming sanity

       there can ever be.

 

Since our courage is not the red kind-

    the willingness to die on a battlefield

  of guns and tanks and IEDs-

        but rather the blue kind, the sky-blue,

true blue, gentian violet twilight blue

   cornflower summer blue,

        hopeful, strained indigo bunting blue-

the blue of every beautiful thing

     you ever desired would find some

         eternal purchase in our local

   general stores and farm markets-

          you might just miss it,

       if you are only looking for that damned

 badge, the hair shirt, the externally

     validated words-

   the signed piece of paper declaring

        to the world, I have proof I was never

a coward; this document tells me so.   

 

Those kinds of papers are too constricting

     to have enough air for good poetry

    to survive, anyway.

We fight on other battlefields,

      using other weapons.

 

we tremble when faced with our own cowardice-

   the admission of the thing,

             makes us strong.

 

How can you go for a walk, when the world

   up the road is exploding? I was

     asked yesterday, by a man who

meant well.

 

And I sat in the forest, thinking of you-

     and how alike in temperament we are.

 

I answered him quietly, gently.

   Women have ever turned to normalcy

  when caught up in grief

     and anger and fear amd desolation.  

We go to the forest because

        she is the breath of sanity that

lets us be mindful of our letters

            and scribe our quiet words

     examine the power we both hold

          and have let go.

 

We go there because we must find

    some inspiration

  that makes us willing to

live on the world's battlefields

    anew, each day; and our strength

      is knowing, then, with exactitude-

 how valuable is each and every word

     precisely scribed, each and every stitch

placed just so on quilts

    and beadwork and the dreams

            of our children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



© 2013 Marie Anzalone


My Review

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Featured Review

Art and poetry are the only life affirming sanity there is.
Creating is what it is all about
Communicating that creation is sublime.
All true, honest, good, inspiration comes from a sublime mind.
A sublime mind looks and then see's
all other minds don't.

Posted 11 Years Ago


3 of 3 people found this review constructive.

Ken Simm.

11 Years Ago

I have been corrisponding on here with a writer who feels that the only true poetry is that which fo.. read more
Ken Simm.

11 Years Ago

The succesful scientist and artist tha should have read in the bottom third of the writing. Don't kn.. read more
Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

no worries; you made it just fine... I wanted to let you know that I really appreciate your rambling.. read more



Reviews

we tremble when faced with our own cowardice-
   the admission of the thing,
             makes us strong.
...Such a poem... graceful yet charged and passionate, always you wake me, stir me with your words, make me look within... As a woman, how do we cope with duress... I too, find peace in the quiet of the forest and the sea... I don't think it makes me feel normal, but it stirs me in a way that I remain still, yet open my inner eyes wider...
This makes me think of so much more, consider... how does a women interact, in this world of bold men...
Anyway, You seem to be getting active here again... I am so glad:)

Posted 11 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

I'm taken aback, simply speechless. You're like diamond in the rough. Extremely well-written and totally captivating write. Truth holds it all together.

Posted 11 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

Thank you very much, Crochet. This was written for a fellow writer, a dear friend, for our daily str.. read more
still the finest poem written in 2013/
dana

Posted 11 Years Ago


2 of 2 people found this review constructive.

The act of creation is a shield. It serves as protection, a rejuvenator, of some kind. Even people who have no idea that they are creative are indeed finding a creative outlet, somewhere. Mowing the lawn into a design, or sorting and inspecting produce into shapes. A surgeon, reconstructing a broken body; the mechanic/painter working on a fender. It is the act of creation that we need, desire, to make ourselves Whole. The lucky ones find not only the creative outlet that completes them but one that makes them a living too; especially if it involves somehow making the world a better place. It is a theme I see in much of your work, it's a part of who you are. And nature also looms large in you (as it does in us all) and you find solace there, peace. Clarity, and answers to hard questions.

When I read and saw the people of Boston coming together, like they did at Fenway park, Big Papi with his rousing speech, Neil Diamond with his rendition of "Sweet Caroline", I was moved. The crowd, swaying in unison. I thought, man, this is how it should always be. It's almost courageous when people, even for a minute, think beyond themselves for the greater good. Forget politics and societal philosophies for a minute and let's just be practical. It's the direction we must go if we are to survive as a species. That's not hard to understand, but too many people are frightened by it.

Thought provoking piece Raquelita. This journey of contemplation though foreboding is necessary, and you lead the reader through it gently.


Posted 11 Years Ago


2 of 2 people found this review constructive.

Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

Thank you, Diego, for your very thoughtful review. I find, in my convos with you, that it is helpful.. read more
This is nothing short of sumptuous, I could live here and be happy. It's superb poetry, this is the reason why I write, the reason to breathe in each day in on this site. A majestic read, I can't say more....

Posted 11 Years Ago


2 of 2 people found this review constructive.

Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

Thank you, Frieda, for your review and its kind words. There are thousands of ways to inspire creati.. read more
One of the finest poems I have ever read.

"we go to the forest
because she is the breath if sanity
that lets us be mindful of our letters
and scribe our quiet words
examine the power we both hold
and have let go"

And because the poets battlefied is the harsh cry of a bird, narrated and then
refined as the most polite civilization; the final stage of cultural development at which writing and the keeping of written records is attained.

Your final stanza has made, yet again, that ringing sound of a war bell.
Not bellicose, but bejeweled.

Just fantastic.
dana

Posted 11 Years Ago


2 of 2 people found this review constructive.

Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

Thank you, dana. I attended a conference on women and courage back in 2008, shortly before joining t.. read more
Art and poetry are the only life affirming sanity there is.
Creating is what it is all about
Communicating that creation is sublime.
All true, honest, good, inspiration comes from a sublime mind.
A sublime mind looks and then see's
all other minds don't.

Posted 11 Years Ago


3 of 3 people found this review constructive.

Ken Simm.

11 Years Ago

I have been corrisponding on here with a writer who feels that the only true poetry is that which fo.. read more
Ken Simm.

11 Years Ago

The succesful scientist and artist tha should have read in the bottom third of the writing. Don't kn.. read more
Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

no worries; you made it just fine... I wanted to let you know that I really appreciate your rambling.. read more
oh, sister, dear . . . after 9/11 i walked, one eye on the sky, the blackhawks were circling my town, increased security, you know?

oh, and the battlefields, i walk them, on days when the cannons are firing and on days when it is just the echo of rifles and men long dead, and i turn to the most normal things i know, i darn a sock, i mend a tear, i cook a meal, i fetch water and brew tea and tend to the weary and worried and ill

life is a battlefield, too, most forget that the noise can be every bit as frightening, that the emotions that they turn loose can injure, maim, or kill a sensitive soul

i waded through days a year ago, not sure which end of the journey i was going to end up on, i am so glad to be among the living again, and to be able to shine that light that is inherently mine, in this place with poets and dreamers and warriors of every size, shape and color

Posted 11 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Emily B

11 Years Ago

grace is never ordinary
Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

very very true
Emily B

11 Years Ago

These were perfect words to re-visit

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1082 Views
8 Reviews
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Shelved in 5 Libraries
Added on April 16, 2013
Last Updated on August 9, 2013
Tags: sisters, Boston bombing, sewing, needlepoint, wars, battlefields, poetry, words, willingness, inspiration, Emily

Peregrinating North-South Compass Points


Author

Marie Anzalone
Marie Anzalone

Xecaracoj, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala



About
Bilingual (English and Spanish) poet, essayist, novelist, grant writer, editor, and technical writer working in Central America. "A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to ta.. more..

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