Tanita hosts our Poetry Friday posts this weekend
at {fiction, instead of lies}
Join us!
a poet’s work
fill the cracks before they shatter
gather shards before they slice
scatter pieces on the table
puzzle out which ones matter
divine the mystery in mosaic
trace the patterns in the pain
write the beauty in the broken
poems rise from the prosaic
…Or maybe this should be titled “a mother’s work”?
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.
What about Mothers & Poets? Great poetic view of process…that repetition of “before” is effective. It gives me, the reader, some power.
Beautiful Patricia, I’m feeling the Japanese Kintsugi quality of your poem, especially in…write the beauty in the broken, poems rise from the prosaic. Powerful, and to me, comforting in addressing the struggles we all face in everyday life.
Oh, WOW. 🤯
I need to noodle on this mosaic – this poem has such depth to uncover. It’s very much both wabi-sabi and Kintsugi focused for me – imperfection and then choosing the imperfection to limn with beauty. My favorite concept is “gather shards before they slice.” That’s what processing through poetry often looks like for me – gently handling something sharp and rendering it less dangerous. Beautiful, beautiful!
puzzling out which ones matter… oh there’s the challenge and the joy! Thank you! xo
Beautiful, Patricia. Somehow I think this about more than just poetry. Your phrases are so thoughtful.
“write the beauty in the broken” — this keeps seeming more and more necessary…
Patricia! I often think I can detect the nugget, the dividing cell that led to a poem or song lyric, and here I’m wondering what came first…was it realizing that mosaic rhymes with prosaic (which no mosaic ever is)? And yes, poet’s, mother’s, and dare I say any attentive human’s work? Thank you for this. It reminds me of a song I rediscovered yesterday; I hope you enjoy: https://open.spotify.com/track/2CDWWw0WuhGbWhTD348n8a?si=43dd80eb9f564bb3
(Can I embed a link? Let’s see…)
PS I want you to know that when your contributions to WHISPERshout arrive each month I am grateful all over again for your support. My summer camp experiment is working and I’ll forward you a little update I wrote for the Board, because you of all deserve to know what you are so generously enabling.
The dividing cell — so apt — borne of my mom, her death, her life, writing her eulogy –finding beauty in brokenness, tracing pain, translating prosaic to understand what remains. The rhyme came at the end.
And…WHISPERshout… Why I give:
We may not be able to give our children a peaceful world, but we can give the world peaceful children.
Oh, Patricia! I love this meshing of mosaic and poetry — brokenness into beauty. A relationship to look at on so many levels. And your observation that it applies to motherhood too? Ooof. Yes.
Oh, I love this poem, Patricia. And it’s paired so beautifully with the image of the mosaic. Then the suggestion of a title as “A Mother’s Work” provides a whole new dimension. Lovely!
Patricia, your poem is one that I needed to read several times. The simplicity yet depth, allowed me to explore this line in the poem: “write the beauty in the broken”. Beauty, pain, and broken are apply applied in your poem. As a poet and mother, you touch upon the reality of life. As you said in the comment to Heidi, “finding beauty in brokenness, tracing pain, translating prosaic to understand what remains,” helps me understand how grief enters your life and how you are processing the loss of your mother.