Thanksgiving 2020

Image by ColossalBean. For prints of any image by this artist use the PoetryBones contact link.

This post (and writing session) features a textured approach to Thanksgiving reflection.

1. In "Besaydoo" we appreciate the warmth of an inside joke, varied forms of affection, a sustained long distance connection through a shared joke, that is also language play.  Hear the poet reading her poem.
2. In "Blessings" the traditional act of giving thanks, of counting blessings in any time of year in any place.
3. In  "More Than Something Else" a Native American writer responds to being labled "something else" in political exit polls. Hear Ortiz reading her poem
4. A link to the NYT's article "Verses vs. Virus: What These Poets Laureate are Thankful For"
5. Lastly, the "Gather In" reading from Poets.org

First Mentor Poem

Adroit Journal · Yalie Kamara - Besaydoo

Besaydoo
YALIE KAMARA

Source: The Adroit Journal

Writing Prompts #1

Choose a provoking prompt, and write a poem for 10 minutes:

What blessings do you give at departure?
Long distance phone conversations
Misheard words, misheard lyrics
Ravages of time, distance, and circumstance
Being apart from a loved one

Too newborn pure
​Pull apart like string cheese
Code words
Secret language with friends

Second Mentor Poem

​Blessings
JAY PARINI
 
Blessings for these things:
the dandelion greens I picked in summer
and would douse with vinegar and oil
at grandma’s little house in Pennsylvania,
near the river. Or the small potatoes
she would spade to boil and butter,
which I ate like fruit with greasy fingers.

Blessings for my friend, thirteen
that summer when we prayed by diving from a cliff
on Sunday mornings in the church
of mud and pebbles, foam and moss.
I will not forget the fizz and tingle,
sunning in wet skin on flat, cool rocks,
so drenched in summer.

And for you, my love, blessings
for the times we lay so naked in a bed
without the sense of turbulence or tides.
I could just believe the softness of our skin,
those sheets like clouds,
how when the sunlight turned to roses,
neither of us dared to move or breathe.

Blessings on these things and more:
the rivers and the houses full of light,
the bitter weeds that taste like sun,
dirt-sweetened spuds,
the hard bright pebbles, spongy mosses,
lifting of our bodies into whiffs of cloud,
all sleep-warm pillows in the break of dawn.

Source: ​poets.org

Writing Prompts #2

• For ten minutes, write your own “blessings” poem or gratitude list poem
• Write your own “blessings” poem
• Church of . . . ?
• What is our church made of?

​

For Discussion

CNN reported 2020 presidential Election exit polls by race, referring to the Native population as "something else."  Native commentary delivered a thorough "roasting" via twitter and memes, highlighting anger with the continued marginalization of Native peoples.  And some had fun with the multiple meanings of "something else." 

​Below is Rainy Dawn Ortiz's poetic response.

Academy of American Poets · Rainy Dawn Ortiz: "More Than Something Else"

More Than Something Else
RAINY DAWN ORTIZ                                                

​Something Else.
Some one else
Some where else

That place is here,
In my home,
We are here.

I am brown,
Brown hair,
Brown eyes,
Like cookies Feather tells me, and I like to think it’s perfectly
cooked Pueblo cookies.

My kids are something else,
9 different shades of brown,
All beautiful.

My grandkids are something else,
4 brown eyes, 2 blue eyes,
All Native,
Definitely something else, as I watch them be rowdy, be loving,
be here in this world.

We are here
On this earth
In this time and place

In our homes,
On our lands,
In the cities,
With our families, laughing loudly, cooking together, protecting
each other.

We are something else
With our songs
Our dances.

We pray with corn meal,
Eagle feathers,
Medicine bundles,
Burn some sage, make sure to acknowledge the four directions,
as the sun comes up.

We are the something else,
Who were here,
To greet Christopher Columbus

We were born from
This earth,
Crawled out of the center,
Of our mother’s womb, we are important, we are strong.

We are something else,
We are Pueblo people, Plains people, Forest People, Desert
people, Nomadic people, Cliff dwellers, Ocean fishers, Lake and
river fishers, hunters, medicine collectors, horse riders, artists,
speakers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, we are human beings.
We are something else,
We are Native People,
Indigenous to this land.
We are a proud,
Something else.

​Source: Academy of American Poets
​

Header art by Sally Deng and from the NYT online article

This article starts with a grim overview of all the reasons one's gratitude could be dimmed this year.  But keep reading.  Don't give into the doom and gloom that has largely characterized 2020.  Author Shawn Hubler insists "gratitude persists." 
​
NYT  asked poets laureate across the country "why the people in their states would be thankful." And according to Hubler, the poets laureate "enthusiastically responded . . . "   

American readers, you may find your state singled out with a link to the poet's response -- sometimes both previous and current laureates wrote in -- in verse and prose.  Many take the opportunity to feature state mottos, birds, and native trees and vegetation in their texts of gratitude.  For PoetryBones writers and readers outside the U.S. there is still a vast response to be enjoyed here -- with voices at odds with their states, in love with their people, honoring the land.  It's a wonderful Thanksgiving read!

The Academy of American Poets posted this video from their event "Gather In Poems: A Virtual Reading" from Tuesday, November 24.  It "reflects on how sharing poems can create a sense of community, especially at a time when so many must be apart."  The recording features 17 poets reading favorite poems.  It was also a fundraising event to support the Academy's free publications and programs, including their K–12 education program.

Click COMMENTS to share your favorite read from this week's post -- your gratitude list -- or a golden line from this week's original writing!