The last few weeks have been quite the learning experience. I have had the pleasure of meeting a variety of interesting people whose dedication to the community has really been astonishing.
Leola B.C. Highsmith, who runs a seven-days a week operation out of Grace Baptist Church of Germantown, helps to make sure over a hundred families in the area are fed each week, and that their children are given after-school activities and a safe place to go.
Reverend Kevin Porter hosts a monthly coffee house open mic out of the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown where locals are encouraged to connect with their creative side.
But I have felt no closer sense of connection than with Germantown's poet, RuNett Nia Ebo. RuNett and I had the opportunity to meet for the second time on Tuesday and get a great interview (which you can view here). It's been a while since I've written a good poem, but I completely connected with her theory that poetry can help us to deal with pain. So much of what she said resounded with me as I remembered how I used writing therapeutically as a child and even still today, with this blog and to some degree, with my facebook page.
Moral of the story: I may be working my butt off for this class, but I am meeting some fantastic people along the way!
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
A poem.
I was home schooled most of my life. In 7th grade my mom took a break from teaching me and my siblings so she could care for her dying mother. Omi was one of the most beautiful, strong-willed, courageous women I knew and I wanted to be like her in every way. I will never forget the day she took me into her office and told me she wanted me to write her memoir. Imagine this eleven-year-old girl sitting across from my boney grandmother, her head wrapped in a scarf and fingers idly touching her chest, while I soaked in every single word and motion she made.
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