Featuring cherita!


January 26, 2018

Poetry Friday--Women's March 2018

Last Saturday I joined millions of women, men, and children who attended the second annual Women's March at locations across the country and around the world. Instead of going to Boston, I stayed in New Hampshire and attended the march in Portsmouth. The powers-that-be in Portsmouth thought the crowds would be too big and so they took away the march part. A gathering with speeches and the Leftist Marching Band had to suffice. And it did. The march was covered by Seacoastonline.com and is found here.

The spirit of the women was infectious and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many young people. Here are a few of the photos I took:
















So inspiring! I wanted to write a poem--and I did. It turned out to be a poem I had written many times before. I rolled my eyes as I reread it.

I began again. I thought I'd try to do something different--a metaphor here--a twist on a word there--but, if you try too hard, it shows. I realize that both my rejects were didactic ("didactic" from the Greek didaktikos meaning "able to teach") However, I even failed at didacticism since the only one I was able to teach was myself. Here's the lesson I learned: do not write didactic poems!

I needed to go back to the essence, yet a haiku or senryu, wasn't big enough (3 lines). I could have written a sequence of haiku, or a tanka (5 lines). I ended up with a cherita (6 lines).

All photos and poem © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

women's march

melting snow
beneath their feet

melding objectives
clear as the sky above
their heads

If you have time to spare, please watch the video from the march that took place in the birthplace of the women's rights movement, Seneca Falls, New York. Or, browse through The New York Times photos of marches from around the world. Both are pure joy!

Please stop by Beyond Literacy Link where Carol is hosting the Round-Up.

27 comments:

  1. Diane, I can so relate to this: "It turned out to be a poem I had written many times before." Sometimes I think all my poems are variations on a theme! The muse wants what the muse wants. xo

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    1. In my case, I think it's just the muse being lazy!

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  2. Invigorating and energizing post Diane! Your cherita is perfect and fit the spirit of the March! Wow that video of the March in Seneca Falls is Fantastic-–I hope it's seen all over. We need to keep on Marching all through the Year!

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    1. I'm happy you watched the Seneca Falls march. It made me smile and laugh and cry all at once.

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  3. Inspiring! I regret missing last year's march, so I made sure to join in this year. I am hopeful for the future from the energy showed not only at the marches but also from the organizing and involvement through the year.

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  4. Thanks for sharing the pics and your inspiring poem -- you captured the essence! Always like to see the great signs people carry too.

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    1. Thanks, Jama. I sometimes wonder if the essence leaves too much unsaid.

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  5. Wonderful poem! Yay for you for getting there. What times we live in. To see women come together like this warms my heart. Yay for Portsmouth! Yay for you! Yay for our country.

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    1. If nothing else, we all need to stand witness to what is going on in our country.

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  6. I loved the signs, especially Librairans Against Fascism. And your poem fits the tome of the day. Love melting and melding

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    1. Yes, I made sure I got that Librarians sign. I was too far away and had to zoom in, that's why the clarity isn't great. But it's readable!

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  7. Diane, this video was full of inspiration but you cannot imagine what I felt being at the Seneca Falls Women's Museum with my children when they were little. There was a full sized sculpture of the key women with Frederick Douglas-very impressive. Someday, I want to take my grandbaby, Sierra, to see what I saw and be filled with the passion of being a woman. The photo spread you presented was filled with hope. I would like to capture your Women's March cherita. I think it fits into the gallery because it is another perspective of a winter wonderland for women. What do you think?

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  8. Hooray, Diane! While I didn't make it to the march this year, I did come up to Portsmouth for the March for Science -- again not so much of a march but a demonstration of sorts. The crowd and the energy were inspiring. Sounds like your experience was the same. Bravo!

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    1. Nothing compares to the marches in Boston. The size of the crowds there is astounding.

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  9. I've always been a big believer in the strength of numbers, Diane, so seeing photos of people marching all across the country makes me so happy. Thanks!

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    1. The NY Times link above takes you to pictures not only in this country, but around the world. It is both amazing and inspiring.

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  10. Well done on your sticktoitiveness, Diane, in activism and in poetry! Your cherita does the trick... though I do love that acrostic sign you shared too!

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    1. As to the acrostic--the last word is hysterical! Marching with a bunch of women is such fun!

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  11. Oh, I love that "Librarians Against Fascism" sign! So inspiring to see so many women fighting against hatred and cruelty. I can only wish we didn't have to keep protesting these things again, and again, and again.

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    1. I marched against the war in Vietnam in the 70s, the Iraq war in the 2000s, and today against the current administration and societal ills. And, I'll be marching tomorrow and the day after that--for however long it takes.

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  12. You snapped some fabulous protest signs!
    The protest is a fabulous sign that change can be...WILL BE made.

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  13. Great posters, Diane. I think the energy launched by that first march has been something else to witness and be a part of. How marvelous, and necessary, that it only seems to have grown. Here's to the #resistance!

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  14. Thanks so much for sharing, Diane - and for your poem, too! My son marched with his girlfriend in NC while visiting her last weekend. :0)

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