credit – edrissis

Like the rest of the Northeast, this past week in Vermont has been a sizzler. Nowhere has it been worse than inside the prison, with its few fans and close quarters. Despite brutal heat and humidity – with their attendant effects of slowing everyone down to a near-halt – we met at mid-week’s height of the heat with a dozen dedicated women.

Our theme? The power of our words. To ‘pull us from the depths of unknowing,’ as a line from Denise Levertov’s opening poem says. Words that fly with urgency or open like flowers. Words that hold us back or propel us forward.

Although each woman’s writing was different, arranging lines from each woman into a poem speaks to the universal experience of our lives. Heat or no heat!

How Much I’ve Grown, Given, Lost

I pushed aside something that mattered
when I left —
wonder if I’m on the right track,
afraid of not ‘getting it,’ over-thinking,
not measuring up to other people,
scared to make moves or changes.
Anxiety stops my imagination. Continue reading →