The following essay, "The Making of Poems," sums up some of Orr's central ideas about trauma and poetry. Orr read the essay on National Public Radio's All Things Considered on February 20, 2006:
I believe in poetry as a way of surviving the emotional chaos, spiritual confusions and traumatic events that come with being alive.
When I was 12 years old, I was responsible for the death of my younger brother in a hunting accident. I held the rifle that killed him. In a single moment, my world changed forever. I felt grief, terror, shame and despair more deeply than I could ever have imagined. In the aftermath, no one in my shattered family could speak to me about my brother's death, and their silence left me alone with all my agonizing emotions. And under those emotions, something even more terrible: a knowledge that all the easy meanings I had lived by until then had been suddenly and utterly abolished.
One consequence of traumatic violence is that it isolates its victims. It can cut us off from other people, cutting us off from their own emotional lives until we go numb and move through the world as if only half alive. As a young person, I found something to set against my growing sense of isolation and numbness: the making of poems.
When I write a poem, I process experience. I take what's inside me -- the raw, chaotic material of feeling or memory -- and translate it into words and then shape those words into the rhythmical language we call a poem. This process brings me a kind of wild joy. Before I was powerless and passive in the face of my confusion, but now I am active: the powerful shaper of my experience. I am transforming it into a lucid meaning.
Because poems are meanings, even the saddest poem I write is proof that I want to survive. And therefore it represents an affirmation of life in all its complexities and contradictions.
An additional miracle comes to me as the maker of poems: Because poems can be shared between poet and audience, they also become a further triumph over human isolation.
Whenever I read a poem that moves me, I know I'm not alone in the world. I feel a connection to the person who wrote it, knowing that he or she has gone through something similar to what I've experienced, or felt something like what I have felt. And their poem gives me hope and courage, because I know that they survived, that their life force was strong enough to turn experience into words and shape it into meaning and then bring it toward me to share. The gift of their poem enters deeply into me and helps me live and believe in living.
I think that there this is so much beauty in Orr’s message regarding the relationship between poetry and self-exploration. I would undoubtedly agree that trauma can easily cause isolation, thereby making it especially challenging to thoroughly grieve and develop the sence of peace needed to move forward in life. As Orr so elegantly described, for many, myself including, reading and writing literature, and poetry more specifically, is a breathtaking outlet for much needed discussion and release after a jarring experience. I’ll add that I think Orr illustrates a very lovely image of poetry helping one “live and believe in living” once again. Such a claim was a brilliant way to close this essay. Nonetheless, I am sincerely impressed and touched by Orr’s reflection on the messiness of life and strength of poetry.
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ReplyDeleteAt the end of the essay, when Orr says he felt a connection to authors of other poems that have experienced anguish as he has, I thought of a support group: the group being the entire poetry community. Poets come to the meetings with poems, their own story, and share their plight to their audience encouraging others to persevere through their suffering. At the same time, the poet would find comfort in sharing their struggles which Orr describes as "a further triumph over human isolation". I think this idea that poetry creates a supporting community where people share experiences and emotions is meaningful. Orr’s description gave me a new perspective on poetry.
ReplyDeleteI think that this essay says a great deal about poetry in itself. Orr was isolated in his young life and he was able to express his inner demons through poetry. The essay says a lot about how meaningful poems from the mind and heart can be and it shows that poetry is really an extension of the self towards others. Orr used poetry to overcome his isolation and I think that the desire to reach out and survive that he describes in the essay, can characterize many poets who write from the inside. It is what makes poetry unique among all other literary forms.
ReplyDeleteI feel so awful just thinking of what his experience must have been as an isolated and traumatized 12 year old. I can imagine, like he said, that his world changed forever and he couldn't really live as simply anymore. The idea of putting his experiences into poetry is very brave, and I can see that it must be an important way for him to process his emotions. Writing things down can do that for you in many situations.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have had minimal experience with using writing as a coping mechanism for trauma, I can certainly understand the power it could have. From the little experience I have with trauma, I found particular power and truth to Orr's idea that "And under those emotions, something even more terrible: a knowledge that all the easy meanings I had lived by until then had been suddenly and utterly abolished." Often, the worst part of going through trauma is the idea that we used to overlook or take for granted what we lost. We wish that we could at least go back and appreciate what we once had.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best ways to deal with these events, at least for me, is to talk to someone . A viable substitute for expressing our feelings vocally is writing, as Orr described. This could perhaps be even better than talking, since it allows for thorough thought and articulation. Furthermore, I was initally struck but have begun to agree with the idea that poems are proof that the writer had the will power to make it through their suffering. Especially in Orr's poem "Gathering the bones together", we should feel pity for Orr, but also find the beauty in his bravery and ability to put his sadness and agony into words.
Gregory Orr's essay spoke to me. I can't agree more with his statement that writing poetry can shape your experiences. When going through rough times, I think it's always helpful to express your emotions in some kind of way rather than keeping it in. He says that poetry can be an amazing outlet for doing so. The process of making poems helped Orr get over the murder, and I think that's what makes poetry so unique and different from prose. He talks about the rhythm of poetry and his feeling of joy during the process, which is crazy to think that it happened after a such gruesome event. In my opinion, writing anything essentially can help your feeling of isolation and grief at times. Whether it be poems, prose, or even music, all three can help someone get out of his/her comfort zone, which in turn can inspire others to do so as well like Orr talks about.
ReplyDeleteI can totally see how writing a poem would be the only way Orr could get his feelings out to the world. The worst thing he can do is bottle his emotions inside him, and that's probably what happened to him for a long time. It looks like his family members didn't want to speak about the death to Orr because it would make Orr feel worse, but that was what Orr needed in order to let out his emotions. However, luckily he found poetry.
ReplyDeleteEmma Hummel
ReplyDeleteEven though I haven't been through anything like what Gregory Orr has been though, I can relate to what he says about writing on a smaller scale.
"I take what's inside me -- the raw, chaotic material of feeling or memory -- and translate it into words (...) Before I was powerless and passive in the face of my confusion, but now I am active."
A couple weeks ago I was feeling really stressed about school, homework, college, and just my future in general. I was laying in bed and I couldn't sleep so I got up and started texting my friend about everything I was feeling. At first it was just a few words, but then it turned into a 500+ word text about everything that stresses me out. I did what Orr said: I took the words and became active instead of powerless. I didn't let things in the distant future affect me. Instead I focused on the now and what I could do to change that. Like Orr I felt this wasn't something that I could say out loud, but writing it let me express everything that I was feeling.
I appreciate all of your thoughtful responses to this essay. I agree that we can find solace and some measure of comfort in reading about the experiences of others, connecting with people through their writing, and (especially, perhaps) writing ourselves––whether that writing be texts, emails, and letters to communicate with people we rely on for support, creative writing to express our feelings and transform our trauma, or journal writing to get things off our chests and try to navigate our grief or stress.
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