Blog #136…December, 2022
The pandemic
has turned into an exhausting marathon, forcing us at the best into a quieter
and more solitary mode and at the worst into bankruptcy and homelessness - or some people, despite the evidence, are ignoring it and pretending it's over…so
many stories to tell and so many ways to tell them.
Memorizing
200 lines of poetry every year in high school made me recognize a poem’s
ability to capture emotions suddenly and accurately. From Robert Browning’s
sight of My Last Duchess to the musings of J Alfred Prufrock, poets have always
amused and delighted me. We’re heading into a dark time in many ways (can't pretend that away) I’m
tempted to get into bed and emerge in April! It’s a good idea to have some
brighteners - a poem a day to keep the bleakness away?
Covid’s
imposed seclusion got poets moving and The Friendly Spike and The Secret
Handshake, both longstanding groups offering creative opportunities to people concerned with
mental health, have gifted us with Poemdemic.
Beginning with Helen Posnos and concluding with Treese Flenniken, 45 poets
contribute their lived experiences during 2020-21 in poetic form. Conceived and produced by Honey Novick, Ruth
Stackhouse and bill bissett, it's intended as a historic document as well as an
artistic one, recording examples of of pandemic lives. Find out more about these two great organizations at:
thesecrethandshake.ca and friendlyspike.org
Banoo Zan calls herself a war correspondent in verse and uses a nom de plume in Persian (Banoo is a respectful title and Zan is woman) hoping it will keep her and her family in Iran safe. Banoo came to Canada over ten years ago, leaving a successful career as a literary critic and teacher of English in her home country. Settling in Toronto, she joined the feminist caucus at The League of Canadian Poets and began a monthly reading series called Shab-e-Sher (Poetry Night). Since arriving here, she’s published two books of poetry: Songs of Exile and Letters to my Father. When twenty-two year old Mahsa Amini was arrested and killed in Iran for wearing her headscarf incorrectly, Banoo was beginning her role as Writer in Residence at the University of Alberta. She continues to give voice to the experience of exile and has joined in spirit, the protests {Iranian officials admit to 300 deaths so far!) fighting for women’s rights and democracy in Iran and all over the world.
Poetry has
always offered us beauty and inspiration, but poets have also spoken out on
injustice and pain. In the last century,
Rupert Brooke agonized over the horrors of World War 1, WB Yeats reflected on
the brutality of the Irish struggle for independence and TS Eliot described
loneliness and alienation.
So the brave
and clever people I’ve mentioned above are holding to that tradition, pointing
out inequity, standing by marginalized groups and individuals and giving us
hope that the world has the potential to be a better place if we stand
together.
Have a
peaceful and restful holiday season, give the gift of kindness to yourself and
those around you. See you in 2023.
