Breathe In--Breathe Out
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| Totem Pole eye re-imagined |
"Breathe-in experience,
breathe-out poetry." ~Muriel Rukeyser
Once upon a
time, my ancestor mated with the wind and fell from the sky—she created the
landscape then gave birth to a poet. The bard recited poems about fish-bone
harps and golden orbs of sunlight; and when he did, the beasts of the woodland crouched to listen, the birds settled in the
trees to listen, the fish swam next to the shore, and the worms in the earth
surfaced to listen. They listened to incantation, to stories.
I come
from many generations of storytellers and poetry is the medium I chose to tell
our stories. By definition, poetry as story classifies my poetry as narrative.
But toss in whimsy and magic realism, juxtaposition between reality and imaginary,
and the women in my poetry will transform into reindeer and the wolves will walk
like men.
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I believe
that poetry can give insight into the human condition and that it’s important
for poets to take on that task. Poetry is story and story is poetry. My poetry
has always been a means to tell the bigger picture using the smallest of
details.
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| Jelly fish re-imagined |
I’ve considered myself a poet since the 6th grade when
grief over euthanized kittens made me write my first poem. I recognized that
experience and poetry were connected and that feelings drove the words to
paper. Soon I was immersed in writing poetry. I haven’t stopped since. Writing poetry is a necessary as breath. It is life. Poetry is the landscape
that I live with every day.
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