A caveat: I
trust no one will misinterpret this post to be a shameful self-serving one.
Please allow me to summarize “passion
and purpose,” as a writer in a few humble sentences. The terms passion and
purpose mean to live. To live means a way to express oneself. To express
oneself shows a passion to write. A passion to write is a measure of God’s call
on one’s life. This measure of God’s call is a vital part of life. This vital
part spurs one on to completion. This completion is a mark of one’s passion and
purpose.
A vital part of my life as a
writer is the grief of grandparents who mourn the death of their grandchildren.
These days they are a focus of my writing. The February 2021 post introduced
this focus as a book I am writing called, “Plant Them
a Garden: A Reflective Work of Grief, Faith, and Poetry.” This project has
challenges, but I will persevere.
People often misunderstand the
role of poetry in life. When people ask what genre of writing I am involved in,
I tell them my current genre is poetry. Most often I see their eyes glaze over.
They may reply with noncommittal comments like, “Oh, really? That’s nice.”
These responses no longer discourage me.
From what I understand, poetry
is not marketable. Does it have to be? Poets do not make a living from their
poetry. Must we make a living from writing poetry? Even other writers warn me
there is no money in poetry. There may be no hope of earning a living, for
instance, but I write poetry from a passion. Anything else is but a bonus.
My primary focus of poetry
right now is for a particular audience prone to allow other voices than their
own to be heard. Grief poetry is not something people seem to be drawn to, yet
those I write for say they need a voice. This need for a voice also implies the
need for those who will listen to their voice.
My current primary project
focuses on grandparents who grieve the death of their grandchildren. They often
suffer their grief in silence. This is not a fact in life people flock to know
about. This is also not a reason to put one’s passion aside.
Many grieving grandparents convince
themselves to “be strong” for their families in times of grief. I hear this
from almost every grieving grandparent I communicate with. Few people listen to
their grief. My approach is to listen to their stories, then write poems to
capture their grief and hope. Most grieving grandparents keep their grief
hidden. They are our forgotten mourners. They do not speak a lot about their
grief. They use few words when they do. Their words are poetry.
My passion is to write for
those who need a listening heart. This includes the grief of grandparents as
they live life without their grandchildren. In all humbleness a hope is, “Plant
Them a Garden: A Reflective Work of Grief, Faith, and Poetry,” will be a
voice for those who mourn in silence.
Note: A
photo included in this post shows the garden I planted in memory of my five
grandbabies in heaven.
Alan lives in Deroche, B.C.
with his wife, Terry. He contributed stories to Good Grief People by Angel Hope
Publishing, 2017 and Story by Story: The Power of a Writer, Unstoppable Writers
Publishing, 2018. Alan has also written articles for FellowScript Magazine.
Blog: https://scarredjoy.ca. Alan is the Provincial Rep. Liaison and BC Rep for
InScribe.
