The Clarity of Ambiguity

Continuing last week’s train of thought… The poem below was written during the initial days of the Occupation of Pioneer Park, when we joined the regular residents of the park, camping there, setting up a kitchen open to everyone, taking in and distributing donations and building support networks.  The few weeks we were there before the camp was shut down by SWAT teams (simultaneously with several other camps nationwide) were a crash course in grinding poverty, homelessness and addiction.  Still, there were successes. Offering and accepting help without judgment or shame, learning the value of barter, of acknowledging the inherent value in one another, even when addiction makes one inconsistent or unreliable.  Committing the simple act of smiling and making eye contact with those who had been, until that time, invisible to you. 

A dear friend of mine read this poem and applied its observations to her own life, but in a completely different context.  Hers was one of being in an abusive relationship and finding the courage to leave.  Again, not the context in which I wrote the poem, but a completely valid interpretation of it.  When you find ambiguity in your writing, it is not necessarily a problem.  If the ambiguity does not impede your intent, allow this ambiguity to be an invitation to others to see and feel what they will in your words.

It Begins

It begins when the outrage seeps through your pores

and your skin weeps ashes for its own illusions.

It begins when you shed the sackcloth

and shame for circumstances not of your making.

It begins when you stop kneeling at the rail

and begging alms from your oppressor.

It begins when you lift your face

and see the clouds rent asunder.

It begins when you shiver in lonely darkness

and shimmy out of fear of retribution.

It begins when you see that you are not alone

and the public space becomes your confessional.

It begins when you occupy your rightful place

and stand arm in arm with others thus absolved.

It begins when you embrace the epiphany;

you have nothing to lose by giving it your all.

It is beginning now.