Poetic response to the “Protection” prompt:
You Must Do This
Then, you must do this: help the next person find their way through the dark.” Joy Harjo
She takes a break from creating,
looks out from her desk where she sees Deer,
eyes filled with kindness, with curiosity,
and Deer gives her a look as if it knows
she is always one word from a finished poem,
one fear away from healing.
Step out from the trodden path, Deer insists,
into the wild brush and bramble.
Trust your instincts.
Greet each creature also trying to make its way.
Celebrate the web, the bee’s nest, the dark den.
But I am just trying to find peace, she laments,
alone at my desk, writing, imagining what I might see!
If I go into the woods for a better look, what about
the sting, the scratch, the break, of my body, of my heart?
Oh, I see. You want the journey to be safe, Deer sighs.
You want the poem to be full of pretty
geraniums on the windowsill and a breeze through the backyard maple.
You are afraid of rejection and questioning your point.
We all fear blood and tears, sweat and scars. Death.
But what about authenticity?
What about those poems of witness, of resistance?
What about those whom you might save along the way?
As soon as I saw this prompt, I thought about the experience I had at a week-long writing retreat. I took a break from writing, walked down a path, got swarmed by bees – I am allergic but did not get bitten – ran back to the writing cottage, and encountered a deer waiting for me up a short hill by the door to the cottage. A welcome? A call not to be afraid? I did not write about this experience until the prompt came along. It seemed impossible to ignore anymore. What else in life was I protecting myself from? I rewrote many, many times. I think I just didn’t want to deal with what we exchange – even suffer – for being authentic. For writing our truths regardless of whether they are publishable or relatable to all people. Because they might just save one person along the way.
A poet, playwright, photographer, and NPR essayist, Kim specializes in ekphrastic poetry. She encourages everyone to be creative and authentic – make art and heal the world.
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