Featured Poem - May/June 2007
AS I WRITE
As I write
as I lay suspended
in animation
my head imagining what I want
my pen to state as I
lay awakened by the sounds
the whispers the trees make
in wondrous delight
as I write the world
unfolds before my sight
the words rhyme in and
out of off beaten time
with almighty might
as I write
dreams are formed
in hues and arrays of sunlight
bright.
As I write poetry pops
like a Beethoven symphony.
As I write, Picasso becomes
alive in my very pen
letting the majesty in
as I write I become amazing
in unbelievable ways
I could never fathom
in any other way
I say with sheer delight
as I write,
write as I write!
Sherry P.
This spring, ASC and the Creative Writing Workshop lost a beloved friend, Sherry P. Sherry was an avid participant in our workshop, present at the very first class in February 2000 and active in almost every weekly gathering of the workshop over the next six years. She passed away in March 2007.
Sherry was a remarkable poet and remarkable human being. Her poems reflected painful struggles with addiction and relationships in a witty, fiercely honest and profoundly openhearted way. Through her poems, Sherry generously shared her life experiences with others, finding hope in hardship. She had a true poet's willingness to look the truth in the eye and say what she saw. She also had a poet's tender heart, as anyone who knew her will tell you. Sherry P.'s poems were deep, bright, and mighty real. And so was she.
Sherry was a Peer Educator at ASC for many years, and in 2006, she became a "Poetry Leader," facilitating some of ASC's Creative Writing Workshop on her own. She was passionate about poetry and spoke often about how she had turned to poetry for solace and sanity. She loved Hamlet's soliloquy, Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," and almost everything by Nikki Giovanni. Unfortunately, she became ill soon after becoming a Poetry Leader and was no longer able to teach or participate in the class. We've missed her ever since.
We mourn the loss of Sherry—her poems, her teaching, and her beautiful smile, twinkling eyes, and warm presence in our lives. We remember with gratitude the gift of having known her, the joy of having read her poems, and the lessons she taught by example. Sherry's strength, passion and honesty live on in our hearts and memories. We miss her, remember her, and remain thankful for the legacy of her writing and her life.—Gerry Gomez Pearlberg, Workshop Facilitator
Sharen I. Duke, Executive Director/CEO