It’s PoetryFriday!
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Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.
Thank you to the Poetry Sisters last week, whose efforts on the Pythagoreum poetry form inspired me to give it a try. This poetic form helped me put words to what I witnessed at The Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Sites: the Legacy Museum and the National Monument for Peace and Justice.
It helped to only have to find a few words. And to make of these few words the briefest of sentences. And because these mere words and sentences can never be enough, it helped to be able to scramble them together – the way my brain and my heart felt at the end of this week – and try to make sense of it all.
“Difficult things are difficult to talk about.” – Padraig O’Tuama
speak. break silence.
honor trauma honestly.
acknowledgment births empathy.
disparities of power, rights
bind hands and feet.
freedom dares to dance.
poem our way there.
freedom’s feet speak of disparities
and bind our hand’s rights.
poem honestly dares break silence,
births way to trauma acknowledgment.
empathy honors their power dance.
©draft, Patricia J. Franz
It is impossible to completely absorb the cruel realities of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. I only know that I stood speechless and in tears before a wall of jars, filled with dirt and gravel –a memorial to the lynching of over 5000 black men, women, and children.
I listened to holographic stories of families ripped apart, sold at slave warehouses all over the South. The history of violence perpetrated on black people simply standing up for basic human rights is staggering. These museums and memorials are our Yad Vashem (Israel’s memorial to those lost in the Holocaust) – preserving the memory of the millions of African and African-American people who suffered unfathomable cruelties, many murdered simply because of their skin color.
We must do better. We must be better. But first, we must speak honestly about this history.
Equal Justice Initiative: LEARN MORE here.
The Equal Justice Initiative was founded by public interest lawyer, Bryan Stevenson (author of JUST MERCY). EJI is a human rights organization that challenges racial and economic injustice. EJI provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons. EJI is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment. Under Stevenson’s leadership, EJI led the creation of the acclaimed Legacy Sites, new national landmark institutions that chronicle the legacy of slavery, lynching, and racial segregation, and the connection to mass incarceration and contemporary issues of racial bias.
Patricia Franz writes picture books and poetry. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
Hello wonderful Patricia. Appreciations for visiting this site. And for your poem words expressing your hear. I have read many pieces on the effort to bring this about, the pilgrimages made to experience it & the breathless, choking feeling that bears witness to the viewer’s heart. Thank you for sharing your heart.
I haven’t been there but have been to several places that brought those tragic memories to me and my students, in and around Savannah. We stood & were saddened on auction steps, visited slave quarters, & several museums honoring the cultural memory, art, & history. Your poem’s beginning, “speak. break silence”, says all. Thanks for sharing, Patricia!
Thank you for your powerful poem (and for attempting such a challenging poetic form!). Difficult things are indeed difficult to talk about, yet the only way we can ensure atrocities like these don’t recur is to talk about and learn from them. With the current political rhetoric demonizing and dehumanizing all peoples of color, it’s more important than ever.
Patricia, this is such a powerful acknowledgement of past horrors and those that still occur today. I love your line “acknowledgment births empathy.” Thank you for this potent reminder that we are all in this together on this tiny planet and what happens to one of us affects us all.
Patricia, as I was last week, I’m moved by your words. Our country has an ugly history, with so many violent beginnings and so much injustice, a word that doesn’t feel big enough for the horrors. Thanks for your poem and for the info on the EJI.
Patricia, your powerful poem speaks loudly. Since I have never heard of this initiative, I am glad that you brought it forward. I spent time this morning at the EJI sites listening to videos about injustice. The horror of what has happened in America throughout the centuries is beyond belief. While in Atlanta at a NCTE Convention my friend and I signed up for a tour honoring MLK. Our guide, Tom Houck told the story of his meeting with MLK as a 17 year old white man. He left home to be part of King’s group of believers in justice. He was placed in prison with King, became the family chauffeur and is now committed to making others understand the truth about peaceful marches in the 60s. Your poem brought all this back to me. I also remember standing at the MLK site in awe of King’s legacy to all.
Powerful, Patricia. “honor trauma honestly.” Hard work! Well done.
There is power in the words of your poem. I’ve wanted to go to this memorial. Someday, I’ll get there. Thank you for the link. I’ve seen some incredible documentaries on people freed from jail and prison with the help of this good organization.
I didn’t see last week’s poems – but worked out the rules from your poem, and confirmed it with a google. These atrocities are hard to fathom. And hear. And write about. I think it was the perfect form for this topic. It really made us think. Dwell on the words.
“poem our way there”–Love that you are doing this tour, despite its unimaginable heartbreak.