Ironically, it wasn't until I lived in
Guatemala as a human rights and mental health worker, working on a project
called "Historic Memory," that I began to feel freer to explore who I
was and what I wanted to say. I also experienced many things in post war
Guatemala that are difficult to put into words, in part because it all happened
in languages that are not my native one, and in part because sometimes the
depths of experience surpass words.
A few years after I moved back to the US,
drawings and poems began to pour out, surprising me with their vibrancy and
emotion. I had promised the people of Guatemala, the survivors of unspeakable
acts, that I would remember them and tell their stories. Our stories became
entwined, sacred acts of defiance in the face of those who wanted to erase the
truth.
Palo santo and copal are two different types of
incense used to cleanse the air and draw the spirit world and the actual world
together. They are often used in healing rituals, and I often begin my drawings
or writings by burning the palo santo in the hopes that it will cleanse me and
lead me towards healing.
Palo Santo
by Shannon K. Lockhart
profundity
aching with
emotional
aphasia
i take off my
shoes,
my feet
ground themselves
in the scratchy sweet
dampness
of the grass,
i light copal
and palo santo,
dancing them into
the air,
cleansing
this space
perhaps
that will reconnect me,
perhaps the smoke will
guide my hands
into a drawing,
so i can see what i feel
even if i can't name it
the sacred
always pulls me
into that other world
i get lost
or perhaps i
just don't want to
return
i feel lighter there
maybe it is
my reality and
my waking life is only
a dream
that repeats
itself
Shannon K. Lockhart is a social
worker, human rights activist, and teacher who has recently embarked on her
newest journey as an artist and poet. She is a native Louisvillian, but has
spent most of her adult life living in Chicago and Central America. Shannon
spent 12 years working with indigenous communities, genocide survivors, and
other human rights activists in Guatemala before returning to the U.S. with her
family. Her greatest source of pride is her family, and she works hard to be a
mother who imparts joy, gratitude, and respect for the unexpected bumps along
the road. Shannon has published her poetry online with Rebelle Society and in
DoveTales, a print journal published by the group, Writing for Peace. She can
frequently be found drumming in parks with her family, drawing, or reading her
poetry at the Urban Goatwalker Coffeehouse in the Phoenix Hill neighborhood.
~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~
Absolutely beautiful. Every sacred-given word of it. Thank you.
ReplyDelete