Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EDT October 20th 2023

10 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read a poem “Sorrow Is Not My Name” by Ross Gay, posted below.

Our prompt was: “Write about what keeps you from sorrow.”

More details will be posted on this session, so check back again!

Participants are warmly encouraged to share what you wrote below (“Leave a Reply”), to keep the conversation going here, bearing in mind that the blog of course is a public space where confidentiality is not assured.

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Please join us for our next session Monday October 23rd at 6pm EDT, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

"Sorrow Is Not My Name" by Ross Gay

       —after Gwendolyn Brooks

No matter the pull toward brink. No
matter the florid, deep sleep awaits.
There is a time for everything. Look,
just this morning a vulture
nodded his red, grizzled head at me,
and I looked at him, admiring
the sickle of his beak.
Then the wind kicked up, and,
after arranging that good suit of feathers
he up and took off.
Just like that. And to boot,
there are, on this planet alone, something like two
million naturally occurring sweet things,
some with names so generous as to kick
the steel from my knees: agave, persimmon,
stick ball, the purple okra I bought for two bucks
at the market. Think of that. The long night,
the skeleton in the mirror, the man behind me
on the bus taking notes, yeah, yeah.
But look; my niece is running through a field
calling my name. My neighbor sings like an angel
and at the end of my block is a basketball court.
I remember. My color's green. I'm spring.

      —for Walter Aikens

Copyright © 2011 by Ross Gay. 
Source: Bringing the Shovel Down (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011)

10 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EDT October 20th 2023”

  1. michele348's avatar michele348

    About what keeps me from sorrow~~~

    The spirit wanders through life, confronting the sorrows and joys.
    Life’s journey is filled with many detours and many bumps in the road which jar the mind.

    I look to Nature to give me hope, to give me strength to continue on my journey.
    I see the yellow, bright face of a lone dandelion out in the field, courageous up until the first killing frost of the season, proclaiming its existence.
    I hear the red-winged blackbirds lilting song as they prepare for migration.
    I look into the eyes of my 5-year-old granddaughter and hope for the gift of good health for her and the joy of discovery.

    Life on this earth is a temporary gift from the Creator… be ever thankful.

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    • michele348's avatar michele348

      You’re right, Elizabeth. Decade after decade, mankind has inflicted, knowingly or unknowingly, trauma upon Nature through war, pollution,fire, or simple disregard, but still it struggles to survive against all odds. I fear, though, its resolve is diminishing.

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    • rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

      Elizabeth I am often amazed that nature’s beauty keeps marching on no matter what is happening, but that is where there is still hope. Nature will still be here manifesting its glory long after we are gone.

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  3. rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

    What Keeps Me From Sorrow
    My family’s love
    Rainbows
    The smell of lavender
    An ocean of wildflowers
    Knowing that I been of help
    Faith that a better tomorrow is possible
    Curiosity about how the story will end.

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    • michele348's avatar michele348

      That which stimulates the senses to recall memories that brought comfort to us in times gone by… rainbows, fields of wildflowers… encourage us to “think tomorrow will be better than today”… helps us to put one foot in front of the other on our life journey.

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  4. JP's avatar JP

    What keeps me from sorrow?

    If sorrow becomes light.
    Nothing.
    It’s always there just behind the curtain.

    Simply pull back the curtains, and sorrow seeps in, exposing itself like that light of the brightest most searing sunny day.

    I do keep it at bay though, blocked by darkest of dark glasses or hidden behind light-blocking night masks. Night shades.

    But It’s always there lurking just around the edges, lingering, sneaking in through the cracks.

    Only the Darkness keeps it from my eyes. And
    just like a migraine, total quiet, total dark, succumbing to a frozen world totally devoid of stimulus is the only thing that works. This blocking out, blacking out, this is what keeps sorrow away.

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    • michele348's avatar michele348

      JP… I like your defining sorrow in terms of the intensity of light. As you said, it is usually lingering in our lives, ready to invade the spirit. Only the unconscious state allows the potential for avoiding sorrow…but even that is not 100% foolproof.

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