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The following piece was intended as my ArtPrize entry for 2020. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic led to ArtPrize's cancelation, I am releasing it here on my blog instead.
Can hope hurt? In 2017, I joined my sister at an ultrasound. It was her first baby, our family's first grandkid. But excitement became tragedy on discovering the baby had died in utero. One in five pregnancies end in miscarriage. Yet this subject remains taboo, and many mothers grieve their hoped-for babies in isolation. At that time, my choir sang a version of Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope Is the Thing with Feathers," and I suddenly struggled with Dickinson's words. They seemed overly-optimistic, failing to acknowledge realities, like severe depression, that can accompany dashed dreams. So I wrote my own poem, an argument to hers, and expressed it against a whimsical graveyard scene. I didn't finish this illustration until 2020, when my same sister faced another pregnancy, this time amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the poem and picture seem eerily appropriate as the world struggles to adapt and adjust expectations. May we all find healthy ways to grieve and hope again. 
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I’d like to take a walk with you
But first, please hear my fears I plan to travel long and hard Through good and horrid years And if you care, I hope you might come walking with me too So that together we might do what none alone can do. Step a little, step a little, step a little close Step a little close my dear. Stay a little, stand a little, be a little near Just a little longer here. Take a little. Give a Little. Share a little. Live a little. Darling, don’t you fear Because I’m ganna step beside you Darling Year after year. Will you take a walk with me as Winter melts to Spring And young hope blooms past every bend And life’s a wondrous thing? And will you stay beside me as the Summer sun climbs high Though every step falls heavy as we burn beneath the sky? Step a little, step a little, step a little close Step a little close my dear. Stay a little, stand a little, be a little near Just a little longer here. Take a little. Give a Little. Share a little. Live a little. Darling, don’t you fear Because I’m ganna step beside you Darling Year after year. Please know I’m sure to stumble. Could you help me find my feet Even if I tread on your down every other street? Could you share my burdens And in turn help me share yours Whether Autumn falls on us with feasts of peace or wars? Step a little, step a little, step a little close Step a little close my dear. Stay a little, stand a little, be a little near Just a little longer here. Take a little. Give a Little. Share a little. Live a little. Darling, don’t you fear Because I’m ganna step beside you Darling Year after year. And mostly, would you promise not to leave me here alone ‘Til Winter night comes calling, and we both or one are stone? Yes Darling, please just promise not to leave me here alone ‘Till Winter night surrounds us, and we both have turned to stone. |
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