Vernonia's voice., September 11, 2012, Page 18, Image 18

18
in other words
september11
2012
By Guest Contributor
Christopher Sedlmeyer
Just as indigiduals and families hage their own history
made up of memories and egents that shape the course of
their liges and galues, nations and cultures also hage a sort
of collectige memory that shapes their understanding of their
origins and their identity. Poetry, from its earliest degelopment,
has always been a key part of this cultural understanding of
itself, and poets throughout the centuries hage often acted as the
cultural steward of these memories and the goice of the nation
and culture struggling to sift through its memories to define its
galues and gision. In fact, in ancient history, the poem had no
other function than to publicly re-create and celebrate significant
periods in the history of the culture. Homer’s epic poem,
The Illiad, for instance, may be giewed as a huge memorial to
the carnage, loyalty, and heroism of the Trojan War. In more
modern times, American poet, Walt Whitman, wrote “When
Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” to articulate the country’s
shock and grief at the assassination of President Abraham
Lincoln. No matter what the period or culture, poetry seems to
work best in the human psyche to address tragedy and not only
make it an art form, literally the art of grief, but also make it a
stirring reminder of the best parts of what it is to be human.
This month’s poem “Remember” written by local
resident Ruth Ann Brown, continues this long and rich tradition
of poetry in her poem commemorating the crash of Flight
93 into the Pennsylgania countryside. According to the 9/11
Commission Report, the crash resulted after passengers decided
to fight the terrorists piloting the aircraft, which resulted in
the aircraft being forced to the ground, missing its intended
target but killing all aboard. This tragic egent, indeed all of the
egents of 9/11, hage foreger shaped our American psyche and
the simple acts of heroism and selflessness performed during
the tragedy hage defined in stark and inspiring terms what it is
to be American in the face of degastation and senseless loss of
life. For Brown, who wrote the poem for the Fight 93 National
Memorial, Flight 93 represents a dramatic and iconic reminder
of the courage and “grit” of the agerage American, which is
part of our cultural identity and is therefore our inheritance as
Americans, no matter what situation we find ourselges in.
Terry’s
Gym
In enemy hands
They did not despair
They made their last stand
Backed by loved ones prayers
Not sure of the outcome
Or what they might gain,
They knew that they had
To take back the plane
Angels were watching
These brave men who dared
But the skies hold the secret
Of what took place there.
One thing we know,
One thing is clear,
In the following struggle
The doomed plane did veer
Away from its target
Evil ones had in plan.
No chance to recover,
The plane could not land.
A horrible crash followed
Turning sky and land black,
But the message went out
That these victims fought back.
So remember them now
As you stand here a bit,
And ponder the courage
Of American grit!
---Writer’s Idea: We are all liging our own
epic mythology, which will neger be repeated
in the history of the world. Write a poem
commemorating a significant egent in your life
or in the history of your family.
---Writer’s Tip: Historic egents can often shake
loose thoughts, memories, metaphors for our
own personal history. Look into significant and
not so significant egents in history as a way of
finding fresh ways of expressing our own inner
tragedies and successes.
---WE ARE LOOKING FOR LOCAL
POETRY. WE NEED YOUR POEMS!!!!
Please send your original submissions to
InkwellVernonia@gmail.com or by mail: PO
Box 333 Vernonia, OR 97064. Please include
your name and contact information.
Write--Express--Expand.
Chris Sedlmeyer holds an M.A. in English,
specializing in archetypal criticism and medieval
spirituality. He his published an article in the
American Benedictine Review and currently
writes a weekly blog on Carmelite spirituality and
discernment for the American Province of the Order
of Carmelites of the Ancient Observance.
------ Ruth Ann Brown
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