Impla, this is powerful. Deeply moving. I can feel the pain of separation from a normal childhood and adolescence, from family, from your true self. The last line is a gut-punch. Leave it in.
Thank you so much Mary! Especially for commenting on the last line. It’s helpful. You also speak Italian? (I do… it’s my favourite language out of the six that I speak…)
No, I wish I spoke Italian! I tried to teach myself, a very long time ago. Six languages? Oh, how I wish I could go back and finish my linguistics degree. You are awesome.
This experience sounds so hard in so many different ways, but you also show the gift in it: "We had already learned how to find our inside..." I don't think any of us can be truly OK in the world until we find our inside and can carry it with us. Your boarding school experience reminds me of my own teenage years; we all lived at home, but we were so unsupervised. So much sex and substance use, at such young ages. Especially in my younger teen years, it was such a relief to go home at the end of each school day. It must have been so hard to never escape that, especially in those years when everything is changing so much.
Isn’t it amazing how we are reminded of our own stories through other people’s stories, even if they are from a different country, culture? I’m glad this piece spoke to you Rita. I am no longer sad about these memories. They are just memories I can appreciate and honour by writing about them :)
Imola, I am quite moved by the intro and the poem where you capture the outsider sense and what we learn from that: maybe the source of the creative, studied mind and soul.
Thank you Colleen. A challenging childhood is a well that keeps on giving to the artist/ writer who survives it :) I think it Anne Lamott said something along those lines in an interview…
Imola! What a beautiful message to wake up to today! Thank you so much for your kind words. It's all you, of course. My prompts merely prompt what is already there--your beautiful writing!
Dearest Mary, you put so much love into your prompts and it is deeply felt. The minimum I can do is acknowledge you and thank you! I am always inspired by how your mind works. You’re a great teacher-thinker-writer-human being!
well, it's your poem! I liked "they stayed." I just read Ursula LeGuin's story about the Omelas and the people who stay and the people who leave, so I think i had that in mind when I read your poem.
Impla, this is powerful. Deeply moving. I can feel the pain of separation from a normal childhood and adolescence, from family, from your true self. The last line is a gut-punch. Leave it in.
Brava. Meaning: you are brave.
Thank you so much Mary! Especially for commenting on the last line. It’s helpful. You also speak Italian? (I do… it’s my favourite language out of the six that I speak…)
No, I wish I spoke Italian! I tried to teach myself, a very long time ago. Six languages? Oh, how I wish I could go back and finish my linguistics degree. You are awesome.
This experience sounds so hard in so many different ways, but you also show the gift in it: "We had already learned how to find our inside..." I don't think any of us can be truly OK in the world until we find our inside and can carry it with us. Your boarding school experience reminds me of my own teenage years; we all lived at home, but we were so unsupervised. So much sex and substance use, at such young ages. Especially in my younger teen years, it was such a relief to go home at the end of each school day. It must have been so hard to never escape that, especially in those years when everything is changing so much.
Isn’t it amazing how we are reminded of our own stories through other people’s stories, even if they are from a different country, culture? I’m glad this piece spoke to you Rita. I am no longer sad about these memories. They are just memories I can appreciate and honour by writing about them :)
I love this way of looking at hard times in our lives.
Wow. I felt this in my gut, as a fellow outsider.
Isn’t it funny how this experience can be applied to so many different settings..? I’m glad that as outsiders we have found each other! :)
This gave me shivers. A mix of despair and hope in just a few beautiful lines.
Thank you my friend.
Resiliency….. often born from feeling powerless but not believing it. Bravo!!! from one Outsider to another💪🙏
Imola, I am quite moved by the intro and the poem where you capture the outsider sense and what we learn from that: maybe the source of the creative, studied mind and soul.
For me, it sure is. I keep learning Mary.
Why was there no supervision? Did all the parents know about that???
Yes, they most certainly did. It was the 90’s… :) it was even legal
Gosh Imola!!! So moved by this piece. It carries so much & balances it all-with such artistry & quiet wisdom.
Thank you Colleen. A challenging childhood is a well that keeps on giving to the artist/ writer who survives it :) I think it Anne Lamott said something along those lines in an interview…
Imola! What a beautiful message to wake up to today! Thank you so much for your kind words. It's all you, of course. My prompts merely prompt what is already there--your beautiful writing!
Dearest Mary, you put so much love into your prompts and it is deeply felt. The minimum I can do is acknowledge you and thank you! I am always inspired by how your mind works. You’re a great teacher-thinker-writer-human being!
xoxo
Also--this poem! That ending is so perfect.
You think? I had suddenly a thought that the poem should have ended a line earlier with “we belonged.” I’m feeling torn about this…
well, it's your poem! I liked "they stayed." I just read Ursula LeGuin's story about the Omelas and the people who stay and the people who leave, so I think i had that in mind when I read your poem.