A Chat With Elizabeth Crawford: A Poet's Task in a "Post-Truth" World

 In the turmoil that followed the United State’s election, Elizabeth Crawford, who posts at Soul’s Music and 1sojournal, issued a Creativity Challenge: to express our feelings about the state of the world, and to try to add some light to the dark forces swirling around us. In my distress, I found this a valuable outlet for my emotions, and my deepest convictions. During the course of that challenge, Elizabeth wrote some very powerful poems. She and I chatted by email and, as so often happens, in this way the foundation of this chat was laid.

In news reports that the president-elect plans to limit journalists access to the White House, the well known journalist, Christiane Amanpour, Chief International Correspondent for CNN, issued a statement, expressing her  concerns about recent  comments made by the president-elect about the press, which she considers “a threat to the very relevance and usefulness of our profession.”

Ms. Amanpour stressed how important it is, now more than ever, to not lose our nerve, to write our truth, to stand up for what we believe, in a climate that she considers hostile to journalists.

Oxford Dictionary recently declared “post-truth” its word of the year. We are living in a post-truth world. What is our place, as poets, in that world? Do we hold to the truths we believe most relevant? Do we remain quiet and politically correct? Accept the unacceptable, in the name of a prickly peace and  enforced “unity”? Do we speak up, even against the tide, when lies are presented as fact, and sway multitudes?

I filed those thoughts away for this chat, as we consider our rights and freedoms, the things we hold dear, the issues we care about the most, all of which are about to take a 180 degree turn under a new administration. What is our personal way forward, as writers and poets and lovers of freedom, when repression is heading our way?

[Disclaimer: We recognize that many of our readers may feel completely the opposite about the recent election, and we respect their right to differ, and suggest if this topic might upset you, please feel most welcome to skip it. I do know many others of us feel unsettled, worried, afraid and concerned, and to those we hope to shed some light and, hopefully, a path forward.]

Sherry: Elizabeth, here we are again, considering weighty issues. In our emails, we have been sharing our concern and distress over recent events, deciding this conversation might need to go public.

Elizabeth: So much of what is going on is so incredibly distressing. My grandmother was Native American. My niece and her three beautiful daughters are African-American. And I absolutely hate the fact that it looks like the president-elect and his cronies might try to take the few freedoms we women have worked so hard to get, away from us.

Sherry: Your poem “Take Back” addresses this so well.

TAKE BACK

I am an old woman
living alone, remembering.

That night, so long ago,
when the women on campus
participated in a ‘walk about’
to Take Back the Night.

How we sang of being
women, of freedom,
with arms clasped,
around each other,
and hands wrapped
around small burning
candles, laughing
and teasing one another.
Knowing we would never
walk here alone in the darkness.

Because we had been taught
from little on, that we were prey.
Always singly responsible
for making sure the predator
never crossed our path.
But, together, we were strong.
Could resist that fear.

Now, living alone, afraid
of the darkness, I watch creeping
over this land where I live.
This land, where lights of reason
seem to blink out, faster
than can be counted.
Blown out by racing wind
of a Predator far more frightening
than any other. Fueled only by
insatiable greed and hunger
for power.

I reach for small candle
from that long ago night,
but it is so fragile. Only
a faltering flicker of hope
that we might stand up
once again, together, hands
clasped in unity, to Take Back
Our Future.

Elizabeth Crawford  11/27/2016

Sherry:  Well-said, my friend. Amazing to think we will be marching again, for civil rights, voting accountability, women’s rights. Sigh. An old tired heart grows weary. So many civil liberties appear to be in jeopardy.

Where to start? Let’s begin with your Creativity Challenge, which you issued soon after the recent election. For me, it was the only positive thing on the landscape. It helped me to express some of what I feel. We shall soldier on, but while I always try to put hope in my poems, for the first time in my life, I have very little hope, at least short-term. (Long-term, hopefully the planet will survive, with or without us.)

The new administration will seal the deal for climate change. And the situation at Standing Rock is very upsetting. I do not do well with injustice, and there is so much of it going on now. We are being set back fifty years in civil rights.

Elizabeth: First of all, I have to admit that there are two things I step away from in most gatherings: religion and politics. For me, they lead to arguments, heated discussions, and even violence. The Challenge came about because Rosemary featured one of my poems, The Call. At the end of her post, she asked some questions, based on my sense of the symbolism and meaning of the words I had written. I said that I believed, right along with J.R.R. Tolkien, that the artists and poets of each generation are its prophets, most often telling the story of human growth and further possibilities, because creativity is an element of healing. A rather lively, and deep discussion ensued.

During that discussion, some individuals spoke of the distress they felt about the results of the election. And, that’s when I realized that I wanted to show them that their own creativity could and would soothe that distress and perhaps, that of the larger world. So, I wrote that I would create a Creativity Challenge, using a one word, daily prompt. Sat back, and said, “Oh, crap! I just told these people I would do the two things I really don’t want to do!” In other words, in the spur of the moment, I had issued a Call, to them, but more importantly, to myself.

I oppose everything this man stands for, everything. And yet, I myself would have to concentrate on writing, without anger, or hatred.  A very tall order, indeed.

The Creativity Challenge has shown me, not only that is possible, but that my own further healing is dependent on it. And our exchange of emails only deepened that reality. We have all been impacted, on some level, by this man’s win and his current gathering of right winged cronies. I think what distresses me most, is that there is so little time remaining. We as writers, have been given the gift to express what others might only feel. I truly fear that our freedom to voice those things is imperiled by this election. This is a man who stays up all night, twittering about anyone who opposes him. How long before he begins to attack our freedom of speech? 

   

But, don’t give up yet. More and more people are realizing what is going on at Standing Rock. They are standing up and being counted and their numbers are growing. If enough of us say no, we can and will defeat him.

This has never been about Democrats and Republicans. It has always been about simple human decency. (Some people may appear to have none). But, Americans do. Americans are watching, and they will stand up, and they will say no.

And I, for one, am pleased as punch that it will start from Standing Rock. Native Americans are not a myth. They are an incredible part of our History. We tree-huggers learned from Native American belief systems and their love of Nature. We won't fail them this time. We shamed ourselves too often in the past. We won't allow anyone to shame us and our deeply felt ideals. One of the most important lessons we learned from those Natives was pride in self, even in defeat. We may have been defeated by the outcome of this election, but that doesn't mean we will not stand up and say NO. I just wish I could be there at Standing Rock in more than spirit.

Sherry: Me too, my friend. Your Challenge is “to use your creative talent to bring light to the current distress in the world around you, in whatever form that talent takes. Please remember that we are reaching out to a world that is facing upheaval and possibly a great number of changes. Let us reach out to that world and bring it the lessons we have learned by becoming artists and writers.” 

I love that mandate. It has been the only avenue I felt I had to speak up for what I believe in. Let’s look at your poem “In Defense of Myth”, as it speaks to our role as poets in interpreting the world we see around us.

In Defense of Myth

History is a story
sometimes wrapped
round myth and legend.
But, all too often, myth
holds a shiny gem
of truth at its center.

Like the folk-tale
from a long-ago time,
about a Changeling.
Someone brought in
to exchange good for bad,
darkness for light.

In current times, people
want change. A government
that will serve their needs
instead of its own. I fear
we’ve been given
a Changeling.

Someone who says one thing
then denies, changes it the next day.
Someone who calls scientific
proof, a hoax to be ignored
because there is money
to be gained in that ignorance.

Someone who thinks women
shouldn’t have the right
to fight for control
over their own bodies. And that
sexual preference is to be
denied, even punished.

Someone who would exchange
the strength of diversity for weakness
of bigotry, because if we are busy
fighting one another, we won’t notice
how much money he will make
from our fear and hatred.

Someone who seems to believe
that twitter makes his words,
the voice of God, only better.

It is time to draw forth that gem
of truth from the myth. Polish it,
and allow its inner glow to light
up our darkening world.
Time to stand up, say “No,”
to this Changeling thrust upon us.

Elizabeth Crawford 11/28/2016

Sherry:  Oh, I like the idea that he is a changeling!

Elizabeth: The Changeling poem is, by far, the most politically aimed poem I have written for the challenge.  

Sherry: I love it! Tell us why you thought the challenge might be helpful to those of us who are struggling with our current reality.

Elizabeth: I have, for a long time, believed that creativity is a built-in healing agent. It is a form of active meditation, and when employed, brings about a sense of soothing to our distress and dis-ease. It allows us to breathe more deeply and sharpens our intuitive faculties. That, in turn, helps us to reach deeper within, make different connections, and express our deepest truths. Given a voice, it can counteract the vitriol, and violent language that is so obvious on social media, and elsewhere. That vitriol is based in fear and anger. And fear and anger are reactions, not reasonable actions. Nothing good or positive, can come from such reactions, they only incite more of the same. When you shout at me, I have only two choices: stand and fight, or run like hell and hide behind the wall you have just created between us.

Creative energy allows us to stand still and express ourselves with calm sensible reason. And that calm voice has a much better chance of being listened to and heard. Creativity is a path of learning, the more we do it, the more we understand. Not just the craft we are employing, but about how we ourselves work. How we feel, what we really think, how we ourselves would choose to be treated, and treat others.

Sherry: The Challenge gives me a place to put my emotions, which are distressed, and makes me feel I am taking a stand, defending all I hold most dear, even if only within the confines of my blog. You suggested I include a poem I wrote in response to your Challenge, so I will include it here as an example of how we poets can, at the very least, use our pens to raise awareness of the plight of the planet and its wild beings and even, hopefully,  inspire others to care, too.

I WILL STAND FOR THE WILDLANDS

What will I defend,
in this topsy-turvy world,
setting off in a direction
we never expected?

I will stand for the wildlands
and its creatures, who are
fast disappearing.

I will stand for their habitat,
being laid waste for dollars,
and for the dying whales
in the warming sea.
I will speak for the polar bears,
swimming ten miles for a meal
where the ice used to be.

I will wield my pen till my last breath
saying: "Please! Stop!
Take measure of what we are doing
to Mother Earth,
who is patient,
but who can't withstand, forever,
all the good we are taking from her,
all the bad we are dumping into her waters,
and expelling into her air."

  

I will defend the indigenous peoples' right
to exist, free from oppression,
and corporate takeovers
of their sacred lands,
for they love and understand the land,
and we should be listening to them.

I will defend Mother Wolf
and her babies from harm,
as the helicopters hover,
and the men raise their guns.

I will stand for the wildlands,
the trees and the birds.
I will stand for the last of the last
wild creatures,
lion and elephant,
tiger and bear. 

As they pace their slow way
into history, I will sadly
and tearfully
wave them goodbye.

Of course, I hope things can be reversed in time to stop where we seem to be heading. But with the current political situation, I have considerably less hope than I once did. 

Elizabeth: Our blogs might feel like an extension of personal space, but internet space is public. I’ve been blogging for eight years, and often find others search my blogs' content and look at things I wrote way back in the beginning. We have no real means of knowing who, what, or even when, something we’ve written will encourage another, lift them up, or help them feel better about themselves or the place they are in.

Sherry: That is very true. Elizabeth, has the Challenge brought you the results you were hoping for?

Elizabeth: Yes, most definitely. Because I was giving the prompts, trying to be an example, I found myself digging deeper and exploring my own belief system with a greater degree of scrutiny and understanding. And the poems reflected that reality. I was facing off with my fears, and finding both spiritual growth and deeper understanding.

Sherry: What is the bigger question here? What is our role, as writers, poets and defenders of our various causes, in a climate that threatens all we hold most dear? What is a poet’s task, when times are dark?

Elizabeth: I can’t speak for anyone, except myself. I started writing because I wanted desperately to understand me. I needed healing, and writing was the cheapest form of therapy. I did not start out to write poetry. Underneath it all, I am a North Wisconsin Hillbilly. And I can assure you, NW hillbillies do not write poetry. Their eyes glass over at the mere mention of the word.

As luck, fate, or the Universe, would have it, I met a man who saw something in me that I could not have dreamed possible. He, with a gentle smile, challenged the rebel (another NWH trait) in me, daring me to write some poetry. I did and was floored by the outcome. For the first time, I knew I had been heard, that my words could be a light in a world, where before, I had only ever been a small blemish.

And that, for me, is the essence of my role as a writer. To bring light, understanding, into darkness, because by working, staying open to the craft, I have learned so much more about life and living it. We are all individuals. We all see ourselves in light of that individuality. Others may see their role differently, but the Challenge, for me, was to encourage that particular role in a world that needs it badly.

Please remember there were a multitude of prophets in many different religions. Each was an individual and spoke in his/her own dialect, and often by enacting the message they brought to their people. Everyone would like to be Elijah with a lashing tongue and miraculous works. Me? I am definitely a Jeremiah, constantly looking up and shouting, “How in the hell am I suppose to say that?”

Sherry:  You stated it so well during the Challenge, when you said, “ As writers and artists, we have been given a gift to express ourselves in defense of whatever we choose. I believe our world is being threatened on numerous fronts. Now is the time to step up and defend it, or, by remaining silent, aid those who would destroy much of what we have worked to attain in the past. What are you willing to defend? To say “NO” to?”

What I take away from this Challenge, and from Christiane Amanpour’s statement, is our right – and our duty? – to defend the writer’s right to free expression, without suppression. To the peoples’ right to accurate and truthful news that has not been twisted to serve a certain faction. And to my soul’s need to defend all I hold most dear.

As a note of hope, I would like to include your wonderful poem,  “This Poem.” Your poem  inspires me to continue believing that these words we write down and exchange do serve a purpose in the world, can offer hope, and unity, and perhaps even transformation.

This Poem

This poem is an old woman.
This poem is a glass window.
This poem is a drop of rain.

This poem is an old woman
standing at her window,
remembering the taste of rain.
Leaning on her cane, thinking
how, as a child, she played
in the rain. Sticking out her tongue
to count how many raindrops
she could catch, while giggling
with friends.

This poem is a glass window,
giving a view of the outside world,
while sheltering that one within.

This poem is a drop of rain
looking for a tongue to taste,
and to tell its story of a newly
washed world.

This poem is hope for a world
in need of inspiration
that might fall like fresh rain,
from the tongue of an old woman,
who has finally opened
her glass window.

Elizabeth Crawford  11/26/2016

Sherry: I love this poem, Elizabeth. I adore Hannah Gosselin’s Boomerang form, and I love the image of the woman standing at the window, looking out, looking in, wishing to wash the world clean with hope. Sigh.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for your Challenge, which provides us with a forum for expressing our emotions around this, helping us through these uneasy weeks. Thank you for your wonderful poems, for your wise, instructive and inspiring thoughts, (you are such a good teacher!), and for this clarifying chat.

My friends, we hope this chat has helped you in your resolve to use your gifts to stand for what you hold dear in the months ahead, that it has reminded you our words do matter, and that we have a task, as writers, to reflect the world we see around us, to bear witness, to offer hope, and, optimally, to inspire. We say, in our poems, “This is how I feel. Do you feel this way too?”

Do come back and see who we talk to next. Who knows? It might be you!