A friend recently called just to tell me about a poet-turned-comedian she recently discovered. To heavily paraphrase my friend quoting a comedian I can’t recall the name of: “sometimes the moon is just the f*cking moon, ya know? I'm sick of finding meaning in everything”.
This, to me, is a very good poem.
If you have been reading The Poetry Journals for any length of time, you might be bored of reading about photos as poems. But here, look, I’ve discovered a new angle…
The month of February has been spent editing my random photos of the talismans that aid me in my work as both a poet and a mother - objects that, placed strategically around my home and car, pull me back to inspiration when I become adrift in meaninglessness.
I’ve begun inviting these sacred tokens into my practice of making mood boards, an act that helps me find clarity within my creative process when working on a book, project or offering. I’ve chosen a few of these special things to live here in The Poetry Journals, so as to share a small, formerly-secret piece of my creative process with you.
These talismans each carry a story that lend themselves to my imagination. When I become stagnant or stuck, their mere image is enough to move something deep within me. What talismans or sacred objects aid you in your making?
storytelling as medicine
February has brought clarity.
My studies of the postpartum and matrescence have taken me somewhere completely unexpected.
They have brought me to the altar of my stories.
I am writing privately, feverishly, about the stories that were handed to me throughout this particular path of life. Not all of them, mind you- we are each made up of too many stories to retain or recount them all. My trainings within the realm of motherhood have helped bring to light the stories that have shaped me - pulled me wet from the earth, curved and pounded the individual who sits in her room and writes while her toddler sleeps deeply on the bed beside her. Some of these stories are mine. Some belong to the women in my bloodline. Yet all have shaped me in some profound way. I’ve found a red thread and I am following where it leads.
These stories are both grand and forgettable - the miscarriages and stillbirths of several generations, my grandmother’s wooden spoon, a photo of my mother and me on the beach of my childhood, a few others I’m not yet called to share. When I pick up my pen and work on these stories, I feel many hands on my shoulders, at my back… as I wrote last month, as if a thousand women sing within me.
What I’m learning is, we are both handed our stories and choose our stories. The Hero/Heroine’s Journey is ours to wield as needed. We can go from victim to hero in a matter of a few pages, a few sentences, a few words. There is great power in not only realizing this truth, but owning it- stepping fully onto the stage of self expression.
This is how our stories - our personal essays, poems, photos, paintings etc - become medicine. Both on an individual basis (here, the writing) and a collective basis (the sharing of that writing).
This is where my work in the world is finding deep roots. This is the sun I am leaning towards.
What story, (nay, medicine) has shaped you? What might it have to offer?
a return: Motherwort Magazine
Motherwort Magazine: Curations on the nuance of mothering
The revolution begins with mothering. It is in the cacophonous kitchen, the toy-strewn table, the daily comings and goings, the tenderness with which we care. The revolution also resides in questioning generational styles of parenting, the quiet and loud ways we tend to ourselves, the respect we show our children, elders and the earth.
Motherwort is a container that holds the stories that quietly shape our culture, pages that speak of the nuances of mothering, motherhood and caregiving. Within Motherwort, we make space for a deeper sense of individual and collective wellbeing by empowering both contributors and readers alike to cultivate inner authority through storytelling.
As m/others and caregivers, the work we do is of the utmost importance. Our work in the world, in tandem with our inner work, is what holds society. Our stories carry more than just our personal experiences - they are the threads that shape the tapestry of culture. By uniting in sharing our stories, we hold this tapestry up for deeper contemplation.
Submissions now open.
Learn more here.
A backstory: Motherwort Magazine began in 2021 as my personal playground. A digital zine where I shared my essays, poetry and photography themed around my experience of entering motherhood. After a few months of writing, creating a layout and working on the backend of such a sweeping project (while I should’ve been sleeping) I found I didn’t have the time or energy to keep up. After nearly a year, I put Motherwort to sleep.
During this slumber, Motherwort brought me to teach at Poetry Forge. The foundation of my workshop A Home of Heart & Bones was laid on Motherwort soil.
Now Motherwort returns, with a deepened appreciation for community. It will now house the work of our little community of m/others, poets and makers. When it is ready for your eyes, I will surely let you know.
write with me
Tending the Depths has one seat left. Would you like to join a cohort of m/others who write, share poems, and invest in story as a tool for individual and collective wellbeing? If so, we’d love to have you join us! Monthly packets for deepening your writing and poetry practice arrive in your mailbox towards the beginning of the month. We meet virtually on the final Sunday of each month to talk poetry and write together. There’s a lot more to it - you can learn more here.
May we remember we’re each just a hunk of clay in a constant state of being molded by something greater.
Until soon,
yours in poetry,
Kat
Thank you for sharing your totems. For planting the seeds of your story in the soil and tending to a garden of mothers who wish to cultivate their own storytelling into medicine. Love to watch you bloom, sweet friend 🤍
A wonderful piece Kat. Yes, I too have many items of good luck call them charms, talisman or tokens ... I made a little book about mine.
https://100realpeople.co.uk/display.html?page=good-luck-to-you