Staying Power #127: "Wherever You Are"
a poem in response to our earthquakes
This week, in trying to grapple with the enormity of the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria, I turned to writing poetry. The staggering numbers of the dead, wounded, and homeless (many of whom were already refugees) exceeded my ability to speak about in prose.
I offer this poem out of concern for everyone impacted by this tragedy, and in memory of those who didn’t survive. (If you’d like to help ease the suffering, the International Relief Committee is one reputable organization to which you might consider donating.)
I also offer this poem as encouragement to everyone who has experienced a life-changing “earthquake” of some other sort.
WHEREVER YOU ARE Phyllis Cole-Dai In the wake of the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake They say what lies beneath the surface contains points of weakness They say movements in the crust cause friction intensify pressure create deformity They say when stress exceeds strength what is solid fractures along a fault line It happens without warning one night as we sleep or in the morning as we rise The ground we take for granted rumbles and quakes We’re not prepared for the power of the tremor Everything crumbles collapses around us What is not sturdy what is not flexible what is not resilient what is not lucky whatever is not what it needed to be to stand comes down Things rise for all sorts of reasons For all sorts of reasons they fall If we live through their falling it isn’t enough We must then live the aftershocks We must learn what it means to survive * * * Light too comes without warning as if from nowhere though it is everywhere even in our points of weakness our deep deformities and fractures Light is even here where we dig with our bare hands where we stop to listen for a cry or a whimper a sigh where we cling to hope against every Too late It’s never too late for light There is no time or place where light is not Even here in the darkest pit where we feel alone and helpless crushed beneath pancaked ruins Yes even here I say Light is here because I have seen it shining through fault lines and cracks shining where there’s no air to breathe where there’s no room to be Light needs no space to be with us I say Light is here because it has carried me more than once dead out of wreckage so like a mountain it could not be moved The light restored me It sent me back to say I cannot die If you can’t see the light where you are in the rubble that’s okay Wherever you are I will see the light for you I will sing the light to you Though I grow tired I will keep seeing and I will keep singing what I see until at last you see the light's coming to carry you too
The Gentle Nudge
Join other Rafters this week for . . .
Creatives’ Coffee (Zoom, Wednesday, 4:00-5:30PM Central, at this link)
Poetry Pick-Me-Up (Zoom, Thursday, 12:00-1:00PM Central), at this link)
Casting light in dark times is always a blessing, for us and others. Well said ... and accomplished!
Thank you for this grace filled creation! Deep healing. Important to dive into these words.
As I do more of my own writing, I look more closely at the form of other poems. Curious about how you decide on line brakes, stanzas, and the overall structure of the poem.