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****This is #103 in a
never-ending series called BACKSTORY OF THE POEM where the Chris Rice
Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific poem and how the poet wrote that
specific poem. All BACKSTORY OF THE POEM links are at the end of
this piece.
*****All photos are given copyright
permission granted by Jenneth Graser for this CRC Blog Post only unless
otherwise noted.
#103 Backstory of the
Poem
“The sight of a million angels”
by Jenneth Graser
Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? This poem is written from out of a dream I had. It was so tangible to me. The child that resides within each one of us sometimes speaks in dreams. I see her from time to time, with a message for me. I could see from the side of the desert, it was like being within a surreal painting. The desert was hanging in space and I could see it like a vertical cliff of existence being played out before me. I could see myself running on the edge of this desert with the rain cloud, running in the night.
Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? This poem is written from out of a dream I had. It was so tangible to me. The child that resides within each one of us sometimes speaks in dreams. I see her from time to time, with a message for me. I could see from the side of the desert, it was like being within a surreal painting. The desert was hanging in space and I could see it like a vertical cliff of existence being played out before me. I could see myself running on the edge of this desert with the rain cloud, running in the night.
The freedom was
powerful, the power was reality. I felt this was a prophetic symbol of a place
I was being invited into, stepping into personal freedom, invited out of the
desert of impossibility and breaking, thirst and latent potential. The little
girl inside of me was discovering her feet, her speed, her spiritual sight, her
ability, her wings. This is an invitation to all of us, to find the miracles in
the desert of impossibility, so that we can receive who we are as a gift. We
can receive the coming of rain in a place that has been far too dry for too
long. And finally, we can discover we have the freedom to move forward into a
new season, a new place, and use the wings we have been given, to fly out of
the desert into whatever comes.
Where were you when you started to
actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail. I was at our
home in Southfield in our office/spare room at our computer desk. This is most
often the place of my writing and inspiration.
What month and year did you start
writing this poem? I do not remember the exact date, but it was around the
birth of our first child 2008/2009. (Top Left: Jenneth with her firstborn Abigail)
How many drafts of this poem did you
write before going to the final? (And can you share a photograph of your rough
drafts with pen markings on it?) I wrote it in one sitting. My most favourite way to assess and adjust a
poem, is straight after I write it. Then I tweak it until it feels just right. (Middle Left: Jenneth, Abigail, and Paul)
Which part of the poem was the most
emotional of you to write and why? The most emotional part for me is about running
blind with the rain in my face, experiencing the supernatural sight of angels.
This is about no more holding back with a question mark over my personal worth
and value. It is about shedding the grief of brokenness and the past. It is
about coming into a spiritual determination that nothing, not even my own self,
can stop what God has planned for me. It is about destiny and not relying on my
own strength to make things work. And it is about finding my wings, so that
there is no way I can remain earth bound in spirit any longer. (Above Right: Guardian Angel by Bernhard Plockhorst.)
Anything you would like
to add? Thank you once again
for the honour of being asked to partake in your series! I have chosen the following poem which comes
from Catching the Light, my devotional self-published in 2013 as a Kindle
e-book. I have a current compilation of
poetry which I am wanting to get published, but am still discerning the way
forward for that!
~ The sight of a million angels ~
Look,
how I run
Like
a wild ox running in the rain.
A
thunder of hooves in my little girl heart
Pounds
out a rhythm on the desert floor.
I
run like the speed of light
Something
completely of heaven.
I
can almost feel the wings on me grow.
I
run with determination,
Nothing
can stop me.
And
above me the rain shadow
It
follows me, the rain, the downpour
In
the night hours, the rain slicks my hair
Into
my face,
Blindly
I run, with the sight of
A
million angels.
The
burning sand
Is
only a memory now,
I
run into the dawn
As
countless colours of rain
Diamond-shatter
the night,
The
rain shadow folds into day.
Look,
how my wings rise with the sun.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, but at a young
age Jenneth also lived in British Columbia, Canada when her family
immigrated there in the early 80's. After completing a degree in Library and
Information Studies, she moved overseas to Toronto to complete a ministry
school. She stayed on there as a volunteer and this was a life changing
experience. She was healed of epilepsy and felt the tangible presence of
God manifest in unusual ways. The teachings on hearing God for herself
and healing life’s hurts opened up a whole new world.
001 December 29, 2017
Margo
Berdeshevksy’s “12-24”
002 January 08, 2018
Alexis
Rhone Fancher’s “82 Miles From the Beach, We Order The Lobster At Clear Lake
Café”
003 January 12, 2018
Barbara
Crooker’s “Orange”
004 January 22, 2018
Sonia
Saikaley’s “Modern Matsushima”
005 January 29, 2018
Ellen
Foos’s “Side Yard”
006 February 03, 2018
Susan
Sundwall’s “The Ringmaster”
007 February 09, 2018
Leslea
Newman’s “That Night”
008 February 17, 2018
Alexis
Rhone Fancher “June Fairchild Isn’t Dead”
009 February 24, 2018
Charles
Clifford Brooks III “The Gift of the Year With Granny”
010 March 03, 2018
Scott
Thomas Outlar’s “The Natural Reflection of Your Palms”
011 March 10, 2018
Anya
Francesca Jenkins’s “After Diane Beatty’s Photograph “History Abandoned”
012 March 17, 2018
Angela
Narciso Torres’s “What I Learned This Week”
013 March 24, 2018
Jan
Steckel’s “Holiday On ICE”
014 March 31, 2018
Ibrahim
Honjo’s “Colors”
015 April 14, 2018
Marilyn
Kallett’s “Ode to Disappointment”
016 April 27, 2018
Beth
Copeland’s “Reliquary”
017 May 12, 2018
Marlon
L Fick’s “The Swallows of Barcelona”
018 May 25, 2018
Juliet
Cook’s “ARTERIAL DISCOMBOBULATION”
019 June 09, 2018
Alexis
Rhone Fancher’s “Stiletto Killer. . . A Surmise”
020 June 16, 2018
Charles
Rammelkamp’s “At Last I Can Start Suffering”
021 July 05, 2018
Marla
Shaw O’Neill’s “Wind Chimes”
022 July 13, 2018
Julia Gordon-Bramer’s
“Studying Ariel”
023 July 20, 2018
Bill Yarrow’s “Jesus
Zombie”
024 July 27, 2018
Telaina Eriksen’s “Brag
2016”
025 August 01, 2018
Seth Berg’s “It is only
Yourself that Bends – so Wake up!”
026 August 07, 2018
David Herrle’s “Devil In
the Details”
027 August 13, 2018
Gloria Mindock’s “Carmen
Polo, Lady Necklaces, 2017”
028 August 21, 2018
Connie Post’s “Two
Deaths”
029 August 30, 2018
Mary Harwell Sayler’s
“Faces in a Crowd”
030 September 16, 2018
Larry Jaffe’s “The
Risking Point”
031 September 24,
2018
Mark Lee Webb’s “After
We Drove”
032 October 04, 2018
Melissa Studdard’s
“Astral”
033 October 13, 2018
Robert Craven’s “I Have
A Bass Guitar Called Vanessa”
034 October 17, 2018
David Sullivan’s “Paper Mache
Peaches of Heaven”
035 October 23, 2018
Timothy Gager’s
“Sobriety”
036 October 30, 2018
Gary Glauber’s “The
Second Breakfast”
037 November 04, 2018
Heather Forbes-McKeon’s
“Melania’s Deaf Tone Jacket”
038 November 11, 2018
Andrena Zawinski’s
“Women of the Fields”
039 November 00, 2018
Gordon Hilger’s “Poe”
040 November 16, 2018
Rita Quillen’s “My
Children Question Me About Poetry” and “Deathbed Dreams”
041 November 20, 2018
Jonathan Kevin Rice’s
“Dog Sitting”
042 November 22, 2018
Haroldo Barbosa Filho’s
“Mountain”
043 November 27, 2018
Megan Merchant’s “Grief Flowers”
044 November 30, 2018
Jonathan P Taylor’s
“This poem is too neat”
045 December 03, 2018
Ian Haight’s “Sungmyo
for our Dead Father-in-Law”
046 December 06, 2018
Nancy Dafoe’s “Poem in
the Throat”
047 December 11, 2018
Jeffrey Pearson’s “Memorial
Day”
048 December 14, 2018
Frank Paino’s “Laika”
049 December 15, 2018
Jennifer Martelli’s
“Anniversary”
O50 December 19, 2018
Joseph Ross’s “For Gilberto Ramos, 15, Who Died in
the Texas Desert, June 2014”
051 December 23, 2018
“The Persistence of
Music”
by Anatoly Molotkov
052 December 27, 2018
“Under Surveillance”
by Michael Farry
053 December 28, 2018
“Grand Finale”
by Renuka Raghavan
054 December 29, 2018
“Aftermath”
by Gene Barry
055 January 2, 2019
“&”
by Larissa Shmailo
056 January 7, 2019
“The Seamstress:
by Len Kuntz
057 January 10, 2019
"Natural History"
by Camille T Dungy
058 January 11, 2019
“BLOCKADE”
by Brian Burmeister
059 January 12, 2019
“Lost”
by Clint Margrave
060 January 14, 2019
“Menopause”
by Pat Durmon
061 January 19, 2019
“Neptune’s Choir”
by Linda Imbler
062 January 22, 2019
“Views From the
Driveway”
by Amy Barone
063 January 25, 2019
“The heron leaves her
haunts in the marsh”
by Gail Wronsky
064 January 30, 2019
“Shiprock”
by Terry Lucas
065 February 02, 2019
“Summer 1970, The
University of Virginia Opens to Women in the Fall”
by Alarie Tennille
066 February 05, 2019
“At School They Learn
Nouns”
by Patrick Bizzaro
067 February 06, 2019
“I Must Not Breathe”
by Angela Jackson-Brown
068 February 11, 2019
“Lunch on City Island,
Early June”
by Christine Potter
069 February 12, 2019
“Singing”
by Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum
070 February 14, 2019
“Daily Commute”
by Christopher P. Locke
071 February 18, 2019
“How Silent The Trees”
by Wyn Cooper
072 February 20, 2019
“A New Psalm
of Montreal”
by Sheenagh Pugh
073 February 23, 2019
“Make Me A
Butterfly”
by Amy Barbera
074 February 26, 2019
“Anthem”
by Sandy Coomer
075 March 4, 2019
“Shape of a Violin”
by Kelly Powell
076 March 5, 2019
“Inward Oracle”
by J.P. Dancing Bear
077 March 7, 2019
“I Broke
My Bust Of Jesus”
by Susan Sundwall
078 March 9, 2019
“My Mother
at 19”
by John Guzlowski
079 March 10, 2019
“Paddling”
by Chera Hammons Miller
080 March 12, 2019
“Of Water
and Echo”
by Gillian Cummings
081 082
083 March 14, 2019
“Little
Political Sense” “Crossing Kansas with
Jim
Morrison” “The Land of Sky and Blue Waters”
by Dr. Lindsey
Martin-Bowen
084 March 15, 2019
“A Tune To
Remember”
by Anna Evans
085 March 19, 2019
“At the
End of Time (Wish You Were Here)
by Jeannine Hall Gailey
086 March 20, 2019
“Garden of
Gethsemane”
by Marletta Hemphill
087 March 21, 2019
“Letters
From a War”
by Chelsea Dingman
088 March 26, 2019
“HAT”
by Bob Heman
089 March 27, 2019
“Clay for
the Potter”
by Belinda Bourgeois
#090 March 30, 2019
“The Pose”
by John Hicks
#091 April 2, 2019
“Last
Night at the Wursthaus”
by Doug Holder
#092 April 4, 2019
“Original
Sin”
by Diane Lockward
#093 April 5, 2019
“A Father
Calls to his child on liveleak”
by Stephen Byrne
#094 April 8, 2019
“XX”
by Marc Zegans
#095 April 12, 2019
“Landscape
and Still Life”
by Marjorie Maddox
#096 April 16, 2019
“Strawberries
Have Been Growing Here for Hundreds of
Years”
by Mary Ellen Lough
#097 April 17, 2019
“The New
Science of Slippery Surfaces”
by Donna Spruijt-Metz
#098 April 19, 2019
“Tennessee
Epithalamium”
by Alyse Knorr
#099 April 20, 2019
“Mermaid,
1969”
by Tameca L. Coleman
#100 April 21, 2019
“How Do
You Know?”
by Stephanie
#101 April 23, 2019
“Rare Book
and Reader”
by Ned Balbo
#102 April 26, 2019
“THUNDER”
by Jefferson Carter
#103 May 01, 2019
“The sight
of a million angels”
by Jenneth Graser
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