This time of pandemic invites reflection. Reading Louise Glück’s essays on poetry the other day, I thought about her statement that “the advantage of poetry over life is that poetry, if it is sharp enough, may last.” As a poet, I’d like to think this is true—and it is for a very few. But, like life, poetry, art and other creative work are for the most part ephemeral.
I think about this website and all the care that’s been lavished on its design and contents including the poems, photographs and proselets (what I call these short pieces I write for my online notebook). But the moment I fail to pay the bills for my domain name (sagefemmepress.com) and internet platform (Squarespace), the whole thing will vanish into the ether. True, I have poems in print and can make hard copies of the notebook entries but I’m quite sure they, too, will have their day and then disappear.
So, why? Those of you who have read my work are a small group and those who visit this website, even smaller. But I, like all of us, need a way to express myself. I want to make sense of my experiences of life and bring my thoughts and feelings to light. This can happen in any number of ways—cooking, crafting, conversation, meditation, to name a few. As a nurse, family caregiver and writer, healing art has become mine. It’s a privilege and a necessity for me and, I hope, a small gift of enlightenment to those who receive it.