Corona Collection: A collective poem, co-created internationally on Nov 08, 2020
I FEEL COMMUNITY
When I think of my mother plucking geese and ducks that my dad killed.
Feathers white, grey, iridescent floating in the air
And later into my pillow and winter bedding.
I feel community
When the light shines and my heart warms
When the neighbour's dog barks behind the fence
When I hug my neighbour's child
When we get together on a warm summer night, sharing stories,
Stories of wisdom and love
I feel community
When I meet my neighbor on the street and we stop
With generous time to comment on the turning leaves and the vacation she can't take this year. When our dogs touch noses and they lie together on the grass.
When my neighbor asks again, as she always does, how my kids are doing in this time of isolation and restraint.
They are fine, they are good, I say.
Their community lives online and they are super connected.
As connected as the two of us in the sun on the sidewalk.
I feel community
when I light a candle to pray for my friend whose daughter has gone missing.
Her anguish and loss is mine to hold as I pray to the Creator to locate the missing.
Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women are close to our hearts
But all we have is hope to give.
I feel community
When I am embraced by the love of my loved ones
When I can hear and be heard-
I feel community
Poetry and the Pandemic, organized and co-hosted by:
Serap Brown & Budd Hall. Social Movement Poets Collective, Victoria, Canada.
Photo by Serap Brown.
Poem facilitated by: Budd Hall, Guest Poet (https://www.uvic.ca/hsd/publicadmin/people/home/faculty/hallbudd.php)
Collective poem by: Serap Brown, Lily McKay Carriere, Budd Hall, Nkatha Mercy, Lesley Marian Neilson, Atefeh Zargarzadeh.
Comments