Sisterhood Poem Power

The mycelial mat is on the move :)

Usually I start right off with a poem, but this is a special edition. See, my sisterhood friend that I love so much has been sick. I could do little for a bit too long for my heart since I live in Maine and she lives in Florida. At times, even verbal communication exceeded her capacity, so phone calls weren’t often possible. I kept texting her love notes and encouragement and sent her a book to keep by her bedside. She knew that I was here, holding space for her even if we couldn’t communicate. I also knew we could feel each other’s souls through the mystical forces that connect us, but I did long to visit her.

Over the winter in 2022-23, I thought of her all the time. At one point during my morning holy scripture reading, a verse hit me like a lightening bolt.

Katrina.

I sat down and wrote Katrina’s poem Shipwrecked Dawn in a single burst of creative force (see photo below).

When I first met Katrina, she loved surfing. I love how that and my admiration of her tenacity and warrior woman vibe shine through beside the deep awareness of where she stood facing her recovery. I took a photo of it and sent it to her phone, hoping it would bring her some energy and a smile. I put the original in a page protector to keep it safe for when I could hand deliver it as soon as I could.

So, that was February. I plotted how I could visit her until finally another lightening bolt hit on a Saturday morning in June. Now.

I made the trip to go see Katrina and her son with 4 teenage boys in tow. We landed late Friday and first thing on Saturday I got up to go to be a part of Katrina’s women’s group at her jujitsu school. I have never done jujitsu (don’t tell my enemies!), but in sisterhood solidarity, I donned the gee and Katrina taught me some non-Laura-ish moves like somersaults and shrimps. Then, we went out for girls lunch with a few of her students. I felt it in my gut when Katrina hit the wall and had to go take a nap. She actually passed out in her driveway she was so deeply fatigued. The few hours with her was such a gift, and I understood so much more being physically present with her.

So, I wanted to be careful with her energy even though we had so much to catch up on and give each other. We hung out on the beach a little, but somehow the poem moment did not present itself. I schemed about schedules so I could give her the original poem but not overdo her energy reserves. Finally on the last night in town, I visited her house and brought the original poem. She asked me to get this: READ IT OUT LOUD!!!!! Apparently poets do this all the time (I am just a soil scientist - who knew? LOL).

So of course I said yes. I read it, and shockingly I only had to stop to cry twice. Well, maybe they weren’t full-blown stoppages, but some brief dramatic pauses with some blubbering of lines. Either way, we were overjoyed with our sisterhood connection and had a beautiful chat before she went back to sleep.

Well, this mutual-muse thing turned out pretty cool, since the next thing you know, a few days later, a poem popped out of Katrina too!

And here it is (by Katrina Costedio):

when torment flies
like thunder
and crops rot in the soil
dark as mud
that slips through my fingers
like dreams
You are
honeysuckle stars scattered
like the sparkle of diamonds
across a green expanse
of ground.

Wow - I can’t read it without being overwhelmed and crying, but that is a good thing.

I hope this story inspires you to find ways to open your heart wide open and reach out to those in your sisterhood network that you love. I know how sometimes it is too delicate to even bear the raw emotion of it, but the power is so sweetly feminine and beautiful and it wants to come out. I did it and survived and kinda want to again soon. Maybe that is my version of surfing.