Tuesday, November 27, 2012

War Wounds, Art Heals


My dearest friends,

I visited an art exhibit, composed entirely of art made by veterans or their families.  I was so inspired by the art and by the conversations I had with the other attendees.  It brought some things into focus for me, and I sat down and wrote the poem, below.  It has much meaning to me and I will only say that this poem is part 1.  It is sort of like an opening act.  However, I have no idea how many acts, or how it will end!  I find myself looking forward to finding out, and I think that is the difference in me.

The art exhibit is called Core Values=Identity.  It will be on display at TMCC near Meadowood in the Veteran's Upward Bound Gallery.  It was sponsored by the David J Drakulich Art Foundation: For Freedom of Expression.  The foundation teaches are to veterans under the premise that War Wounds, Art Heals.  They a non-profit organizaiton and you can visit their website here:  http://davidsartmemorial.org/
 
Truly yours,
Jo


These Truths

I open the portal

The truths come

They are chaotic and colorful

They shoot out at angles

They come at me from all sides

The color hurts

I close the portal

I seal it shut

My room is dark

My room is light

My room is dark

My room is light

.

.

.

I begin to think about the portal

I remember the pain and I think in black and white

My room is black

My room is white

My room is comfortable

My room is safe

Black and white are my sentinel

The portal fades away; I can no longer see it

My sentinel is my anchor

My sentinel shows the way and I go