We’re two weeks into this new Patchwork, and everyone’s projects are starting to take shape. It’s amazing to watch.<\/p>\n
Our first prompt was “Intersections” since each of our projects have something to do with community or isolation.<\/p>\n
This is my (first draft) response to the prompt:<\/p>\n
Grief challenges my skepticism
\nSoft hope at the edges
\nFate and faith and fear
\nAnd I think, there must be a loom
\nThere must be a weaver
\nI must be a thread
\nThere must be a point
\nA picture
\nA pattern
\nA purpose
\nAnd you must be a thread
\nAnd we must intersect
\nAgain
\nWe must
\nThis cannot be Jackson Pollock
\nThis cannot be random happenstance
\nMy atoms love your atoms
\nSurely that means something?<\/p>\nBut let\u2019s say it doesn\u2019t
\nThere is no cave
\nNo sisters spinning
\nNo loom
\nNo weaver
\nNo pattern
\nAnd I am not a thread
\nAnd you are not a thread
\nAnd my atoms are my atoms
\nAnd yours are yours
\nAnd there is no we
\nThere is only me
\nThere is only you<\/p>\nStill, I long to intersect<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The second part of the day was workshopping a previous poem, and the feedback I got on my poem was so helpful! This will be the first poem in my project, and is intended to set up the false sense of isolation and aloneness that the project hopes to explore. (The first draft of this poem was also written on a day when I was feeling particularly grief-stricken and low, so apologies for the downer but I kind of love it. Goth on the inside forever.)<\/p>\n
The Subject is Suffering<\/p>\n
The subject is
\nabandoned at the side of hope
\nsuffering from multiple puncture wounds
\nand the crude surgical removal
\n(perhaps without anaesthetic)
\nof the heart and major organs.<\/p>\nThe subject appears to be in distress
\nand this is distasteful
\nand the blood is everywhere
\nand the subject will not stop
\nwith the tears and the talking,
\nthe incessant post-mortem.<\/p>\nSo wrap the subject in cellophane.
\nShove the guts back in,
\nlooping ropes of viscera and longing
\nin tangled, tidied knots.
\nLet the bleeding be internal,
\ncontained.
\nIf the subject is to be alone,
\nthen let the subject be alone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nFinally, we each wrote on our own prompts. These prompts included “what is it about isolation that’s so freakin’ terrifying?” (mine), “flu season”, and a reflection on specific relationships.<\/p>\n
This new format is very exciting, and productive! The original goal of the Patchwork groups was to provide a structure for sustainable writing practice, and I think we are getting there with this project. Although many of us are exploring difficult and challenging topics in our projects, the safety and support of the group is invaluable. For myself, working through some difficult emotions and struggling to restabilize myself, I am learning again the healing power of writing. It is possible to find truth and hope and\u00a0self<\/em> on the page, and this is a lesson that comes again and again. I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn again, and to facilitate workshops where other writers can also explore the healing power of writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We’re two weeks into this new Patchwork, and everyone’s projects are starting to take shape. It’s amazing to watch.<\/p>\n
Our first prompt was “Intersections” since each of our projects have something to do with community or isolation.<\/p>\n
This is my (first draft) response to the prompt:<\/p>\n
Grief challenges my skepticism
Soft hope at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-patchwork","category-personal","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinginthemargins.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinginthemargins.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinginthemargins.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinginthemargins.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinginthemargins.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/writinginthemargins.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writinginthemargins.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinginthemargins.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writinginthemargins.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}