My mother would have been 84 yesterday. One of the ways I have always coped with tragedy is to write or create art. When my mom died, I wrote this poem for her in an effort to express my grief and sorrow. To this day, re-reading it brings everything back about losing her, centered around my flight back to Phoenix from her funeral “viewing” in Kansas City.

Have you tried writing about your most difficult life events–the ones that don’t seem to resolve?

Research supports creative writing as a positive and beneficial way to deal with life. This study from 1998 showed marked improvement in prison populations due to the implementation of a creative writing program.

past passed

past

full silos and cultivated fields

depart land of green and fluffy trees

whose roots grow deep and tangled up together

while wings fly back to blazing desert

sun burning shallow and relentless

and rootless reluctant cacti stand apart

spines and barbs sharp

stuck with memories

of home and mother lost

buried under brown mounds

shapeless dry and worn

with time

passed

For my mother

Pelauria 2010