Facing Fears
Star Coulbrooke
We didn’t know We’d have to reinvent ourselves, Move from twilight sleep Of hidden grief Into memory’s sharp persistence. For years, we’ve ached to write, To speak. Repressed, mistrusting Those we loved, The few who could have helped us But did not. The Chrysalis of past injustice Cracks, and we emerge, Stronger, wiser, confident. These are our words, The instruments of our resistance: Fears, filling the sky— Leap over, go through? Give me your hand; we’re not alone. Man of true endeavor Knits a tender gift, needles and yarn His redefinition. Mom in the workplace, Dad in the ambulance— Paint us their happier endings. Beautiful colors so delicate, Fluttering, rising, Innermost wishes free on the wind. Heaven in a pure, true hug. Touch that dissolves trouble. Sturdiness a form of beauty. Questions that bring light, a dawning— Why not women, why not life,
Why not peace? Love that keeps enduring Every day for forty years Through every kind of sorrow.
NOTE: This poem is a result of the words, lines, and thoughts written by participants at the Center for Women and Gender Faculty Luncheon, April 5, 2018. Attendees responded to a prompt from Logan City Poet Laureate Star Coulbrooke, following her talk, “Reviving the Dream of a Common Language: Poetry for a Troubled World.” WRITING PROMPT: In writing about our own experiences of trauma, and in the process of revising that writing for a public audience, true healing can occur. At first, when we write, we just try to get it all down, describe it the best we can, use the language we have to create images from memory. Jot down some lines about an experience you may have had, something you’ve been wanting to describe, but haven’t found the inspiration for. Think about the poems on this handout and model your thoughts or your story or your ponderings after one of them, or a part of one. Anything that comes to you, jot it down, as a poem or the start of one.
Goddess of dreams, lavender fields, A waltz with the fireflies. Hours melting to honeydew. 24 • Perspectives Magazine
CWG_2018_Perspectives.indd 24
11/19/18 5:15 PM
