Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Dancing… in Ink

The COVID-19 pandemic has stolen a lot from people. It has taken loved ones, work, health, sleep, easy smiles, peace of mind… It has left millions of souls feeling out of sorts. Illness—especially at this scale—affects everything we do and how we do it.

I have noticed that a lot of my friends have become withdrawn. Some of the online ones have practically vanished. I’ve reached out… Some of them have taken a rather long time to reply or haven’t responded. The ones I have been able to engage tell me that they are feeling tired and disheartened, “uninspired by all this loss and disease.”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts… to shape them into something that would not sound like preaching (no one likes or listens to a preachy know-it-all), then I said to a beloved friend, “Disease can be thief or muse; the choice is always yours.”

After I mentally smacked myself for completely failing at not sounding like a preachy know-it-all, I went ahead and stitched the following blackout poem:

I dream and dance
in ink.

I almost wrote “and so can you” at the end of the blackout, but one (and by “one” I mean “me”) can only take this kind of preachiness so far before getting kicked or blocked.

- for Poets and Storytellers United (Weekly Scribblings #63: Shut Up and Dance with Me).

43 comments:

  1. Love, love, LOVE that blackout poem and the art you've created to go with it. I'm worried about one senior blogging buddy too who has disappeared from the blogosphere since October. She lives in Brooklyn and I'm worried that she or her husband has succumbed to covid. I've left messages for her, but no response, alas.

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    1. So glad you like love it x3, Debra.

      And I completely understand your worry. I'm on the same boat. I have an elderly friend who lives in Austria who just stopped communicating. I'm hoping that it's not the pandemic. In her case, or the case of your friend.

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  2. It's bad enough living in Australia during COVID, and we are not out of the woods yet; how very much worse, I can only imagine, in some of the countries where it has been much less contained. And yet, the human spirit is amazingly resilient. Maybe poetry can't save us – well not all of us, and not from everything – but in my experience it sure helps. Still, sometimes we need to remember to sit down and invite the Muse.

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    1. I thought things were going to be better in NY, but it seems that we going back to bad. The warmer weather is exciting people (and making them careless, too). I hope more of us can find something to entertain ourselves that does not involved getting together with a bunch of people.

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    2. And you are so right about inviting the Muse.

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  3. You are the least "preachy" person I know...and that includes myself. We all need to remember it is still ok to dance as the muses lead us XXX

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    1. And if/when one of us forgets, the other must be there with a musical reminder!

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  4. and you do it so well.

    Yes this plague is taking its toll but we have each other through our poems

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    1. I think we, who find solace and happiness in words, are luckier than most.

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  5. All I can think of, as I sit in my grief, is how excited Cat was to read everything I wrote. Shit, now I'm crying again. But I know she knew how much I loved to write and how disappointed she'd feel if she was the cause of me stopping. So I write, because that's what I do, that's where my magic is.

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    1. And in doing what you do, mi querida Rommy, you celebrate your dear Cat.

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  6. Sometimes, though, some folks (including me, occasionally) need a butt-boot. Thanks MG.

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  7. Luv this blackout. Its is inspiring. We all need to be inspired to hang in there, in this pandemic

    Stay Safe

    much love...

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  8. I am bewitched by your stitchery ........

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  9. Your words are so wise, Magaly, and the blackout poem is one of your very best! Most of my friends are of the positive-thinking sort, and are surviving fairly well, but all sorely miss the simple pleasure of meeting for lunch on occasion.

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    1. Thank you, Bev. I'm right there with you, missing the simple pleasures--secondhand bookshops, thrift shops, antique shops, in my case.

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  10. We all fight (or ignore) Covid in our own way don't we? Sadly so many ignore it which could well increase the risk of it affecting us. It is over a year now and many countries are no better at all. I am glad that a vaccine is now available...let's hope my turn comes soon!

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    1. I, too, hope you get your vaccine soon. I received my second dose 11 days ago. I'm looking forward to the possibility of going to a bookshop without getting yelled at by doctors.

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  11. I'm a hermit by nature, so isolating doesn't bother me. In fact, even in a town of 154 people, sometimes it's too "people" outside for my liking. I mostly have an "it is what is" attitude towards my various physical issues, but I bloody well wish that people would stop calling attention to my walker! I bought myself an upright walker so I could walk further without my back and right leg screaming at me. I can now walk a mile in relative comfort if I take brief breaks whereas before the walker I could do a quarter mile at best. I swear sometimes if one more person gives me an "attagirl" when I'm just trying to take a walk in peace, my head will explode so hard that the whole town will be wiped off the map.
    I suppose people mean well, but I find it demeaning and the trepidation at being confronted with praise for going out and taking a walk makes me not want to go out. I'm just a person taking a walk who has to use a tool so their back doesn't kill them. I don't want special treatment, praise, or pity. I just want to walk in peace.
    Anyway, your post inspired me to lay down these thoughts, which means it was thought-provoking, and that's good. So, thank you!
    ~cie~

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    1. Those "attagirls" can be very frustrating. They used to get me very upset, once upon a time, now I just smile and move on. Anything else is just a waste of energy.

      And I'm so happy these words provoked some thinking!

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  12. Yeah, no more preaching. But that is hard to do. Family? We have lost Mrs. Jim's sister and our daughter's husband to the COVID, another cousin has been in the hospital for two months, had Gall Bladder complications with it. Numerous, Mrs. Jim has sooo many, cousins down for about a week with it.
    ..
    ..
    ..

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  13. This blackout poem is so apt with the current situation the whole world is facing. May we all be strong and get out of it soon.

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  14. If I had no ink, I could neither dream nor dance. Thanks for the blackout poem. It's a truth I live by.

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  15. We are so lucky that we can dance in ink, especially when I think of all those people who don’t have an outlet like writing, painting or making music. But it’s true, we can all dance! I love your blackout poem! And you are not preachy!

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    1. The idea of not having anything to allow the mind and heat to dance is a very scary thought.

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  16. Wise words, Maga. And a brilliant blackout poem, as always.

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  17. Wonderful short poem! What a great post Magaly...and what a fun prompt for P&ST... :)

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  18. I teach blackout poetry to teens... when pandemics don't come and make paper lethal. Yours is very apt and very beautiful!

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    1. I feel the pain! I used to conduct blackout poetry workshops at retirement homes, and well... you you what the pandemic did to those.

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  19. This is perfect! I have noticed a change in friends and family as well. Not especially preachy, but enough to make them sqirm.

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    1. "...enough to make them squirm." I like that. I think everyone needs a bit of that every now and again. ;-)

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  20. You are brilliant and wise! I love what you wrote! I love your art! I too have noticed certain people aren't around anymore. Big Hugs!

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    1. Thank you, my dearest Stacy! Let's hope they show up to say hello, soon...

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