a haiku of sorrow
my sorrow snags me
like a thorn on aging skin
rage is a wildfire!
sorrow drips rage on the page
This poem comes from a deep-dive exploration from a prompt on this video. I’ve used it every day for the past three days and I feel like I drop down deeper each time. The interdisciplinary approach that I take with my artistic practice brings a lot of fecundity and sometimes overwhelm so I’ve committed to creating each day and posting my work here for the month of October as both a creative laboratory and a place for constraint and confinement. I’m enjoying it but, as often happens when we show up for the work, it brings up myriad feelings (which is why resistance often feels like Sisyphus’s rock). In this case, both sorrow and rage.
Today, October 7, 2024, marks a day of sorrow. This past year, we have collectively witnessed the deaths and suffering of so many innocents. It’s started a movement of great magnitude on the planet. As I typed the word “magnitude” just now, I was reminded of this piece of mine from 2012. This excerpt calls out to me:
uncertain outcomes
with
possible measurable magnitudes
embracing freedom in union
find it
freedom in union
We have reached the place where we can no longer be bystanders to injustice. We can embrace freedom in union. But it will take a lot of courage. A lot of caring and sharing. A lot of facing what is difficult. For me, that means facing my own fragility. It’s hard to care for what is fragile when we lack resources and support. It’s time for change.
I’ve learned that we can better protect the innocents when we let go of our own innocence. That’s part of the pain of moving from childhood to adulthood and it’s well-past time to find the courage to do so. For all of us. For my part, I am mustering up the courage to keep creating, to share my wisdom, and to allow myself to receive support.
The support to not only survive but thrive. The support we all need and deserve.
I’m also finding the courage to allow and express more joy. There is joy on the other side of sorrow. Or, as Khalil Gibran says, “You are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy”.
Perhaps that’s true of rage and courage as well.
A Blessing
May your rage bring you courage, dear reader.
