Friday, January 1, 2010

Community Poem I: One word.

One Word
by the community

Opened.
Connected.
Abundant.
Miraculous!
Cherished.
Precious.
Daughter.
Beautiful.
               Love.

Fire.
Unimaginable.
Unbearable.
Fury.
Cruel.
Vulnerable.
Rage. 
               Raw.

Yearn.
Anger.
Forever.
Hole.
Changed.
Tortured.
               Why?

Pointless.
Empty.
Random.
Distant.
Jaded.
               Relentless.

Searches.
Borrowed.
Lonely.
Broken.
               Missed.

Tender.
Absent.
Lost.
               Sad.

Dust.
Almost.

Love.

               (A friend told me,
               hesitantly,
               afraid of offending,
               that I was changed.
               She told me that now I am different.
               And I was grateful
               that she noticed.)

:::

about this piece
Community Poem I: One word was written by forty-two men and women who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal loss. People were asked to submit one word describing some aspect of their grief experience--who they are or have become, their baby, their loss, their grief, their next phase, the grief community, a support person or just a word that rings true to them throughout this journey. The words were compiled into a single poem.

about the contributor
Contributors by their on-line pseudonym or real life name include: a few Anonymous contributors, Beth, AfterIris, Bree, HereWeGoAJen, CLC, Beth, Franchesca Cox, Sophie, Tracey, k@lakly, Jen, Hope's Mama, clevergirl, myskytimes, Jeanette, TracyOC, Ezra's Mommy, Dani819, Barbara, forwardtumble, MK, Jill, Allison (Ali), Audrey, Erica, kb, Jenni, Paige, Mimmy, AnnaMarie, Catherine W, Tina, Fireflyforever, Lareina, Lani, m, Sara, IrishDad, Angie and Erika P., who wrote the last perfect stanza.

Community poem will be a regular feature of still life 365. Next community poem theme and rules will be posted on January 25th for the February 1st post.

24 comments:

  1. Sorry for the issues with comments. Hopefully it is resolved now. xo

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  2. Beautifully compiled, Angie. What a great way to kick off this fabulous project. Got a few things simmering away over here. I'll be in touch!
    And welcome to 2010!
    xo

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  3. 2010 is already far better. Beautifully done, Angie. I am so eager to see still life 365 bloom.

    Happy to have my blog on the roll if you think it would be a good addition.

    xo

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  4. Oh I love it. Perfect. Well done Angie and well done everyone who contributed.

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  5. That reads like my 2009 year....so happy to welcome 2010. Beautifully compiled Angie.

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  6. Wow Angie! I was wondering how your were going to take all of those random words and make them into a cohesive unit. That is exactly what you did, and it is beautiful!!! xx

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  7. Angie, you did a great job, it's a beautiful poem. Thank you.x

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  8. I love it. It's perfect. It's sets the right vibe for the whole project. Thankyou.
    xx

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  9. Amazing and so beautiful. What a wonderful beginning for this project. I look so forward to future posts. Thank you.
    much love,
    slee

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  10. Angie, this is so cool. I love how you compiled the words, amazing. I also love that as I awoke this morning and squinted at my iphone, pre-contacts, this was one the first things I read in 2010. xo

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  11. Angie, it's stunning. Simply stunning.
    xxoo

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  12. beautiful angie. i am so proud to be a part of this community.

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  13. Wonderful, Angie. It's just right. I felt shy about hitting publish comment after writing my additional few lines - but with your tweaks it really does work for the last stanza. Thank you - you've inspired me to try working out some of my emotions by writing poetry again, something I haven't done in quite a while.
    xo

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  14. Love the way this turned out - thank you for compiling & sharing this.

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