Finding Peace in Uncertain Times: Poetry Reaches Deep

As a woman in a time when the recently elected leader of our country has expressed such raw misogyny, I definitely feel as uncertain of my future as Matisse's "Woman with Hat" looks. So I was honored to have my poem "Wings Clipped" featured by WordPress Discover in an article about poetry in uncertain times: Chaos, Control: Four Poems for Uncertain Times. Four good poems you will want to read.

And speaking of the woman with hat, I'm delighted to announce that my book Femme au Chapeau is now on Kindle for $2.99 --- complete with a Look Inside the Book!

Another of my books, Gods of Water and Air , is on a Goodreads Giveaway. Click that link to enter and possibly win one of five print copies I'm giving away by December 12. "Poems to unravel love, grief, and joy" -- my Amazon subtitle seems right, right now. I think many of us have experienced these feelings in the last couple of weeks, going through the most intense election I've ever experienced.

Added to that intensity was one far more powerful to me personally: the death of my brother on October 10. It put a lot of things in perspective, a very large one being that I am mortal too. Life is incredibly short -- shorter for some than it might be -- and much longer than had been imagined for others, like my 93-year-old mother. These poems and essays -- and even a short play on the imagined afterlife of dogs -- speak to mortality too, and how important it is to cherish all the love, grief, and joy we're given in a life.

As I think about giving thanks in a couple weeks at a family feast where there will be one empty chair, I'm thankful for it all. Here's an excerpt from one of the poems in Gods, "Accept the Invitation":
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Palatino; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611969 2013274202 341835776 0 403 0;} @font-face {font-family:MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB; panose-1:2 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:81; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-2147483601 168296456 16 0 1048577 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} </style> --> <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">The million volatile impressions</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">you are today strung together </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">on the ribbon of your name</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">are not enough for me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">I want no careless window-shopping </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">around your vicinity, but to plumb </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">the void, make a hair-raising journey</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">behind personality. To stand together</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">in the light that streams </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">from a hidden source in this world</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: MingLiU_HKSCS-ExtB;">whenever being meets.</span></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Visit http://RachelDacus.net for more information and writing by Rachel Dacus. </div>