FROM “STUCK” TO SELF EXPRESSION
Poetry is an ancient language of self-expression. Through it, we can feel more deeply, touch
our wounds and release the pain, and allow the buried happy and sad subconscious
experiences to dance through our minds as if they were alive again. Because now they are.
Remember the famous poem—
“I know why the caged bird sings” by Maya Angelou.
“But the bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage,
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing. “
How do you feel when you hear those words?
I feel sad, trapped, constrained.
So I wrote my version of feeling “stuck.”
NOW I CAN DANCE
by Amber DeAnn
My childhood world was gray,
covering me like dark cloak
interspersed with drops of yellow—
my hopes. my dreams.
In this art class, I threw off that mindset.
I was ready to set out into the sunshine
and dance through the colors
constantly popping in and out of my head.
Painting freed me.
Colors gave me life
My ship of life now sailed in the sea of possibility
And it was all mine.
How do you feel when you read this poem?
I’ve found that poetry allows the Voice of our Inner Child to speak and translate the child’s
sensory experience into words. It is like hearing and feeling the writer’s emotion through the
words of his story.
The poetry needs to speak. It needs to flow from our core through our senses onto the page. I feel poetry lets our interpretation of the event speak to our heart. This is, I feel, letting the Voice
of our Spirit speak.
There is a part of every living thing that wants to become itself—
the tadpole into the frog, the chrysalis into the butterfly, the
damaged human being into a whole one. That is spirituality.
— Ellen Bass
In her book, Frequency: The Power of Personal Frequency, Penney Peirce talks about the
transformation of our lives and says, “It is key to find a “felt sense” of your soul now—
an experience of your home frequency or your highest personal vibration— so you can
repeatedly choose it and recenter into it whenever you drift too far and become confused.”
She also says, “Part of identifying with your soul’s vibration is that your perception shifts from
old self to new. You understand that you’re interconnected with everyone and everything in a
mutually supportive state and that life helps you do and have whatever you need. You become
interested in self-fulfillment and self-responsibility.”
Join me on ZOOM to write our poetry.