As the
incoming administration builds its agenda of attack on marginalized people, on
freedom of speech, on the earth itself, poetry will continue to be an essential
voice of resistance. Poets will speak out in solidarity, united
against hatred, systemic oppression, and violence and for justice, beauty,
and community.
In this
spirit, Split This Rock is offering its blog as a Virtual Open Mic. For the
rest of this frightening month, January of 2017, we invite you to send us poems
of resistance, power, and resilience.
We will post every poem we receive unless it is offensive (containing language that is derogatory toward marginalized groups, that belittles, uses hurtful stereotypes, explicitly condones or implies a call for violence, etc.). After the Virtual Open Mic closes, we hope to print out and mail all of the poems to the White House.
We will post every poem we receive unless it is offensive (containing language that is derogatory toward marginalized groups, that belittles, uses hurtful stereotypes, explicitly condones or implies a call for violence, etc.). After the Virtual Open Mic closes, we hope to print out and mail all of the poems to the White House.
For
guidelines on how to submit poems for this call, visit the Call for Poems of
Resistance, Power & Resilience blog post.
***
I am a Palette
By Lynne Eve Grossman
Sometimes, I paint my
coagulated
Life glue into
shy-knee lack-her
blobbing recycled
soul fragments
frenetic collages of release
splattering that canvas of
my mind and
heart
blasts of energy
a vibrant, nonverbal voice
S T R E T C H I N G beyond
the copper moon
in search of solution less
answers
vibrations of my soul
creating musical vision
with no orch-castration
later, out of my studio
I often ponder
How many brushstrokes?
How many globs of paint?
How many assemblages?
pushed into those mocking
paint-mouthed canvas lips?
how many colors to Mute
burnt orange blood
of yesterdays?
How many swirls to
cement
those gangrene shadows?
I AM a palette
electric Freedom
rushing through me
with Each stroke of paint
breathing and surging
with passion-ART power
that Sir-cut won’t break me
creative jolts
jumpstart energetic re-lease
I DRAW lines UN-bounded
I PAINT shapes Un-censored
I AM a palette
Re-creating Life’s rainbows
with
Multi-Colored Hope.
Yes, truth/reality comes with creativity. Powerful poem Lynne!
ReplyDeleteFreedom to the palette, though books may be burned, the palette will not be cen-sir-ed.
ReplyDeleteLove it, Lynne. Lofty at the start, working up to those last three verses which really got with it.
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