SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

PLEASANTON WEEKLY by (me!), sandra ttgp

november 9th, 2006

dear paulette kenyon,

i just finished reading your letter to the editor in the pleasanton weekly titled: poems to iraq project inappropriate. i could feel your anger and frustration, which i realize is shared by many.

i must start by saying i believe you severely underestimate the power of poetry to heal and unite people.

as a poet myself and contributor to this project, i feel compelled to point out a few things.

first, in no way is this book of poetry being submitted as the solution to this crisis; but it can and it will contribute to healing the hearts of all survivors here and there.

you should know, the woman spearheading this very noble and important project, cynthia bryant, our poet laureate, turned to poetry originally to work through the pain of growing up in an abusive environment. not only did the writing of poetry help her heal, but the ongoing reading of her poetry continues to reach and help countless others, myself among them.

myself: i am a three time survivor of violent crime. i know the experience of being kidnapped, tortured, raped. i know the dark hell of post traumatic stress disorder. and i know reading and writing poetry continues to help me enormously in transcending my painful experiences.

and please do open any poetry book authored by Dr. Maya Angelou to acquaint yourself with the undeniable power of words over weapons.

i do understand your concern, your anger, your frustration. and i must turn to a recent traumatic experience here in pleasanton to make my final point:

on october 6th, 2006, when Shawn Michael-Harold Niethammer, a 9 year old classmate of my daughters, was accidentally hit and killed while riding his bike, it felt so strange, and severely inadequate to just bring a plant and a card to his parents.

what good is this? a stupid old plant and card when these people are experiencing such loss and trauma.

but if you ask his parents, those plants, flowers and cards meant a great deal. each gift and word a reminder that shawn was loved and they are cared for. shawn's parents expressed being overwhelmed by the outreach. and while the thoughtful acts of others cannot undo the tragedy, it sure does help in the healing process. and if you consider what their experience would have been like had not one person brought a flower or card by... how much more painful, unbearable, awful it would be.

and then please do consider here, how an
"arsty card," one hand made, hand-stamped, might also be a way of expressing care and love.

and how important that our love and care not only be expressed to shawn's parents, but to the person who accidentally hit shawn. no one wants to know such pain. no one. but imagine a world where when tragedy strikes, no one does a thing. no words, no cards, no flowers, no expression of outreach. that world is far worse than the one were currently living on.

words matter. cards matter. outreach matters. caring matters. and poetry can make a very positive difference in everyone's lives, both during crisis and especially it's long and painful aftermath. people here and there, and everywhere around the globe need poetry more than ever and i,

would not be here without it.

the "gift of words" poetry book for the iraqi people, a collection of heartfelt words from people all across the world, is not much different really than the collection of cards shawn's parents received in their time of crisis. we cannot undo what's been done; but we can and we will express our care and love. we will - us poets - make a difference and contribute to the healing with our words.

most sincerely,

sandra, ttgp

now wait. i must point out that here on my blog are two other posts you might benefit from reading. 1) maya's angelou's quotes regarding the difference between bittnerness and anger and 2) i would be honored to have you read my personal contribution to cynthia bryant's gift of words, poems for the iraqi people: perfect vision.

love, from me.

posted by SHE @ 7:13 PM