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poet.
performer. activist. teacher.
AROUND
THIS TABLE
The poem commissioned by The Pennsylvania Coalition
Against Domestic Violence to honor SUSAN KELLY-DREISS
and the founding members of The Pennsylvania Coalition
Against Domestic Violence, whose pioneering spirits
and work over the last 25 years has led to the first
statewide coalition against domestic violence in the
United States, which has impacted the initiation and
development of state and federal laws in respect to
domestic violence, the development of special projects
and resources attending to a wide variety of federal,
state, and local needs in respect to domestic violence,
and the establishment of outreach services designed
to assist and empower victims and survivors of domestic
violence in reclaiming their lives.
AROUND THIS TABLE
Around this table, I learned that hope is communal.
Hands joined to sister's hands,
hope became the light that lit this long way
after one woman, one witness-survivor,
raised her own hand, fingering possibility in the air
above us, that became the call.
We came from every corner and county,
every age, color and creed
to this table, to join hands and histories,
to join our own good fights for the basics long denied,
against the despair that rocked us,
as we rocked another woman near to broken,
as we got on our knees to hold her as she cried,
her head bent to that hand of forgiveness not one of
us
can offer but only to ourselves.
Around this table, we told the stories we took home
with us,
or the ones our own homes, sometimes, offered.
We told the stories when the burden needed voices
and open hands, until the voices raised together.
We learned from the soul out
how to gather the feet of those women
beneath their bodies near to broken again,
to help them lift themselves up gracefully
when grace was the last thing any one of us felt
in this taking of sides.
We learned how to teach each woman how to stand again
and in the teaching, we learned how to stand
for them, with them, across from them,
each woman a mirror image,
with the voices of our mothers or fathers, children
or lovers, sisters or brothers whispering or clanging
in our heads
Mercy, or
There but for the grace go I,or Went I,
before learning this standing;
across from this woman or the one who will follow,
or her daughter, bearing mirror image, that says
when nearly nothing else has the power or defiance
to say, Yes, you can do this. We can do this
© 2001 Dora E. McQuaid, excerpted from the poem AROUND
THIS TABLE, in the forthcoming chapbook shot with
green © 2002
This poem is now available in poster form as THE
25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA COALITION
AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COMMEMORATIVE POSTER, featuring
the full version of Dora's poem AROUND THIS TABLE. The
poster also features the commissioned original oil painting,
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN, by French artist Anne-Marie Ruggeri,
depicting Susan Kelly-Dreiss's kitchen, where the PCADV
began 25 years ago. Proceeds from the fundraising sale
of the poster benefit The Memorial Fund. To order copies
of the poster ($25.00 per poster) contact PCADV at 1-800-932-4632
in PA or 1-800-537-2238 nationally, or through the website
at www.pcadv.org
RETURN
TO THE POEMS PAGE
Dora
is available for readings, speaking dates, and workshops
on writing, creativity, and/or performance.
To discuss bookings with Dora, or to order books or cd's, please contact her at:
575.613.2947
doramcquaid@doramcquaid.com
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