March 5, 2007

Self-Portrait Challenge- We Are All Broken

It has been a strange week, and I am not sure I can, or even want to articulate what that means to me. I see no reason to share the details of my week; however, let me just say that it has been an emotionally challenging week, one that has left me with the realization that we are all broken. Take that sentiment, this photo and the following poem and do with that data what you will.

(This photo was generated here and is one of the many cool sites that manipulate images found at SPC for this week’s challenge. This site is pretty cool- It takes your image and recreates it using text in this case the phrase- we are all broken. But it was kind of a pain in the ass to get it off the web. I finally had to take a screenshot, and it kept freezing up my Firefox! See we really are all broken.)

we are all broken shapes

we are all broken shapes
carrying more than our share
of loss,
scribbled onto torn pages
our shared story

afraid to accept this ache
alone or in groups,
we spiral into traps
set by ourselves.
languishing
like imbalanced echoes
whispered into a microphone

we hide reality from our children
as if we could protect them
from this narrative:
you will hurt
we should teach.

we are all broken shapes
carrying more than our share
of loss.

let me carry your share
till you are ready.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:44 PM

    The portrait looks wonderful. Funny that I´ve also written about this past week as a challenging week. I´m not sure if we are all broken. I think we are whole to begin with, but take on pieces of others which results in being broken. To heal is maybe to find your true self.

    Sophie

    ReplyDelete
  2. That image... er, textorizer site sounds really cool. I can't get it to work quite yet, but I've always wanted a picture of my own head constructed from the words "Here I Am (Rock You Like a Hurricane)". That dream always seemed unattainable. Until today.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What an awesome image!

    ReplyDelete
  4. sometimes the sheer enormity of how broken that we really are as a species is overwhelming. sometimes it makes my shoulders sag under the weight. i know that there are good folks out there but it is so difficult to believe on some days- or some weeks. as always, bz, great post!

    ReplyDelete
  5. what a touching post. Too close to home right now. I love the image and may try it myself. Nicely done.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The poem is beautiful. The picture ain't bad either...I'm just full of jealously because I had those same problems w/ that site and with no success ever. I think it's a cool idea.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful post and poem. I can definitely relate, especially today. I'm broken too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous7:05 AM

    Wow. It's actually very connecting to know that we are all broken. No one has led the perfect life. We have all felt pain to some degree - some more than others. We have all felt loss or will feel loss. It's part of our human experience.

    As a parent, it's sad to know that we're all broken. That someday my little girl will come to that same realization.

    LC

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your words really soothed my soul today. Have been feeling a little broken to, so reassuring that there are others going through it too. Lovely poetry

    ReplyDelete