The Conversation: Poetry and Pain

Marcus
Marcuson Friday, December 29 2017
13 Comments

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Being poets, their illness cannot entirely define them, while at the same time it becomes clear that these illnesses have shaped them powerfully. Some poetry transcends illness:

If I was ceramic I’d be kintsukuroi,

Pottery which has been knocked,

Dropped, broken into shards then

Mended with gold or silver lacquer,

A delicate meander of liquid gold

Flowing into the breach …

(from Axiology by Anne M. Carson)

Pottery mended with ‘a delicate meander of liquid gold’.

Sometimes the poetry brings brutally raw despair to the fore:

My brain is broken / that’s how it feels

But there’s no glue to fix it / only time and more time

Piles of pills / popped from their shells

Handfuls thrown down / tired throat accepts.

You better yet? / is the endless question

Yes, is the lie.

(from Yes, is the lie by Meg D

 

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https://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/buckley-vincent/stroke-0449001

 

https://theconversation.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/r/C56D2AFFDC0FA1F72540EF23F30FEDED/AEFC8E329178F8B61C65CA3F48968C2E

 

 

13 Responses

Hi Marcus,

 

I missed this one!

 

A very thought provoking post.  For me, I have always loved the visual imagery that poems take me on. And this was pre-stroke too.  That words can be so powerful, and each reader interprets their own response from the poem, allowing for an individual experience.  Words used like this bring long exhales of the very core that being human is.

 

Sue

I love poetry Marcus and have written many pieces but have little ability to recall them since May 1st 2015, so reading your words helps me understand your  recovery with the brain. You will no doubt write more of these pictures you construct. Yes I am sure most or many survivors find that the brain is our most powerful tool for recovery. I used every suggestion of the hospital staff and thought yes thats logical but why tell me however it all worked. Do everything that pleases you or what gives you pleasure  is best medicine for the brain. happiness Marcus is wonderful for all around.

 

Jac

Hi Ivor, Yes, it helped me a lot after my stroke, heart attack, and cardiac arrest ... However, I also take  photographs while riding my bike or in the hills. Now, I take more than shots than portry. 

Thank you Marcus for your interesting comments. When I'm writing a post on my blog site, I mostly incorporate a picture I've taken to go with my poem. 

I like that haiku, especially that I live in Japan!

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