Last month, I hosted a poetry workshop with participants of the New Horizons program in Ottawa, funded by the government of Canada. After an overview of basic poetry structure and an introduction of a few Jewish Canadian poets, the group hunkered down to compose a poem of its own.
Inspired by the recent massive storm that hit the city, the new poets brainstormed a word cloud (fully in the theme’s spirit), then assembled their poem, which you can read below.
Mazel Tov to Marcia, Jenny, Marcella, Shirli and Merle for their contribution to Canadian Jewish poetry!
Victoria’s Fury
Storm
thunderous heaven opens up
winds blow horizontal,
rattling rain
trees destroyed
loss of environment
power of nature
blows me away
like election signs in the wind
roots disconnected
lines disconnected
isolation
we are powerless
left at the mercy of nature
loss of voice
telephones down cannot carry it
not in charge
how to recharge?
cooking it up
before freezers thaw
sharing laundry, sharing showers, sharing shelter
sustenance, resilience, gratitude
renewal of friendships,
showering love on neighbours
to bring new growth
Participants shared encouraging comments following the workshop. Reproducing those below, with permission:
« Wow.
The power of the collective.
Loved it – Arianne was fantastic.
Great session – more like this is exactly what is needed.
Love and Shabbat Shalom »
« LOVE IT!!
something positive has come out of the thunderous storm. »
« That was fun. So nice to see [Arianne] in her element. She was open to comments, questions and our crazy ideas. «