creative forces

 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.