On March 30th, as a finale to Women’s History Month, I will read my original poetry/prose in a program entitled “Grandmother’s Gold: Her Story, Her Spirit.” The event is important to me because it is an opportunity to read the work that I am compiling in a new book of poetry/prose: Peering Into the Iris.
I have explored my identity through my heritage, especially through my mother, my grandmother and beyond—to ancestors I never really knew—but could only imagine.
Exploring heritage, for me, eventually reached further—to myth and legends of feminine strength and spirit, and remembering my foremothers.
“Remembering” infuses all of my creative work—poetry, prose, and
visual art—because I believe that reconnecting with our past helps us see and know ourselves in the present.
This reading, the project, is deeply spiritual in so many ways: I read my work in reverence to my ancestors, I call attention to Women’s History Month, I read at the Penn Center, and I gather my writings into a book and CD (partially funded by a community arts grant).
Today is Vernal Equinox and I am undergoing a rebirth. I planted a row of Cherokee Trail of Tears beans (Heritage seeds) as the sun went down and the full moon rose. (The gnats biting viciously!)
I am exhuming work from dusty boxes and I’m revising and writing anew. I’m looking at major themes in a new way. My focus on “Exploring Heritage” continues as I expand my writing to music and art. I am not a composer, but I compose melodies to grandmothers and imagined ancestors. I play my flute from the heart. “Legacy Collages” come together from layering of art, photos, poetry, and heirlooms.
All comes together in this new book: Peering Into the Iris.
Painting: “Irises,” 22 x 34, watercolor on Arches paper, copyright 2008, Jacquelyn Markham