I have always been drawn to poetry -- the carefully chosen words that paint pictures, capture the depths of despair or describe soaring feelings of joy, sharp edges of loss, flutters of hope and optimism. A poem can say in a few perfectly chosen words, exactly what I’m feeling or thinking or living. And I snip those lines and stitch them into my mind, like a patchwork quilt, full of colors and memories and feelings and truths. And when I need comfort or courage or clarity or hope, I pull these lines out, and they speak to me.
At the presidential inauguration, I heard the first National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, share her poem, “The Hill We Climb.” And in an instant, her words reached deep inside me and confirmed for me just how much poetry matters. Poetry like Gorman’s speaks truth to power, asks and helps us answer the hard questions, and stirs inside of us what makes us human. After the inauguration, I stitched several lines from Gorman’s poem into my patchwork quilt, hoping that these lines will help guide me through 2021.
For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.
I’m Laurie Elish-Piper, and that’s my poetic perspective.
