AOBH Episode 6: Sharing some of my poetry

Posted byDanny WhittyPosted inBlog

Dear Friends,

Another week, another episode of our All Our Brave Hearts podcast! This episode is a special and personal one. I wanted to share some of my poetry inspired by the idea of togetherness. Poetry is one of the most powerful ways I can express myself in this new chapter of life with communication.

You can listen and/or read the whole episode as always at AllOurBraveHearts.Substack.com (here is the episode link), and also listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This podcast means so much to me that I powered through with Tara and recorded 3 episodes on her last day before her trip. Whew! Even though it was tiring, it was fun and fulfilling. This episode in particular was enjoyable to prepare and record.

I hope this inspires you to look into the poetry of other spellers and other marginalized groups!

Your Friend,
Danny

p.s. from Tara: I’m in Manila as I schedule these posts to go up, and will be on the island of Palawan looking for dolphins by the time this is posted. We have done a couple of video calls, but he says while he’s happy to see me, it triggers his feelings of missing me. We’ll try Zoom, which is something he’s more used to using versus just a video call on a phone. He’s still doing well with our mom and sister. While I’m here, I’m trying to make connections in the region with anyone who works with nonspeakers to lay the foundation for future visits with Danny to help get more people spelling out here! I sure miss him, and it’s a gift to have his poems to read even while we’re apart.

Image: A man and woman - brother and sister - sit next to each other on a picnic blanket on a lawn. They are in a park in golden late afternoon light. Behind them is a wooden lattice structure (a botanical building) and a pond. The man leans forward to type on a laptop perched on a small camping chair in front of him.
Background: gradient of orange, green, yellow, and light blue. Lower left, black text: Episode 6: Poems on Togetherness. Lower right: thick black text says All Our Brave Hearts, in a black outline of a rectangle. Main text, black: I am so wanting to share some of my poems today. I love poetry! Many of us spellers do. It is an art form that crafts images and ideas out of the creative wielding of words. Perfect for our hyperconnected brains and cherishing of hard-won communication. We all have different styles, which is fascinating. Writing poems is an outlet for me. I can express so much of what I am feeling through relatively few words. It is a gift for my loved ones, too. I can depict our lives and experiences for us to remember and relive.
Background: gradient of orange, green, yellow, and light blue. Lower left, black text: Episode 6: Poems on Togetherness. Lower right: thick black text says All Our Brave Hearts, in a black outline of a rectangle. Main text, black: I create poems in my head. Not the exact words, but the sense and feeling of the poem. Then I spell out the words that flow from that. I rarely edit and I rarely get writer's block. It is a process of my daily life to ideate poems. I encourage you to seek out poetry by other spellers and other marginalized groups. Our words tell our worlds. Today I want to share some poems about togetherness. This is a central theme for me in my life where I am so appreciating interdependence and the ability to finally share with my loved ones how deeply I care about them.
Background: gradient of orange, green, yellow, and light blue. Lower left, black text: Episode 6: Poems on Togetherness. Lower right: thick black text says All Our Brave Hearts, in a black outline of a rectangle. Main text, black: Tara: From the early days of us spelling together, poetry has been a central part of how Danny expresses himself creatively. It really is such a precious gift to have, Danny. To be able to read your poems, which so beautifully and profoundly and evocatively capture key moments and feelings that we experience as a family. The bad times, the hard times, the heartache, the heartbreak, but also the times of joy and elation and even those really beautiful quiet moments of contentment that we share together. I'm so grateful that our shared experience is documented in these really beautiful words.
Background: gradient of orange, green, yellow, and light blue. Lower left, black text: Episode 6: Poems on Togetherness. Lower right: thick black text says All Our Brave Hearts, in a black outline of a rectangle. Main text, black: In my all so difficult life The reality is at times so Sharp cutting slicing Cross-sections of my constructed dreams And they collapse folded on themselves Their weight crushes me underneath And in this heightened gravity All that keeps me All that saves me All that clears the debris And lets me start again Is your love. Danny Whitty
Background: gradient of orange, green, yellow, and light blue. Lower left, black text: Episode 6: Poems on Togetherness. Lower right: thick black text says All Our Brave Hearts, in a black outline of a rectangle. Main text, black: Kitchen I have been here twice before Years apart And it is a borrowed sense of home A suspended and parallel home And it is beyond normal time Or at least beyond my normal time And it is also temporary We are all temporary In this form And it is all the more beautiful. Danny Whitty
Background: gradient of orange, green, yellow, and light blue. Lower left, black text: Episode 6: Poems on Togetherness. Lower right: thick black text says All Our Brave Hearts, in a black outline of a rectangle. Main text, black: This is a Universe I don't know how I first learned about Multiple parallel universes, Nor do I know much about the idea But I often think about me In those other universes, Me free and easy and talking as my Beautiful mind dictates And us all in a house we own And living for love and all that is gorgeous And our regrets never were But I sit here between you And if this is my universe, I think it is all I need. Danny Whitty

One thought on “AOBH Episode 6: Sharing some of my poetry”

  1. Danny – your poetry is so deep and beautiful. I appreciate how you explained how the poems come together. A few months back, my son was asked “what is something about you that would surprise others to know?” He spelled “I like poetry.” What advise would you give to him to express himself even more in this way.

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