Dance of the Three Sisters
-for Joan Stavelely
………
We hold her like an empty bowl
in the company of a tribe of dancers.
Dedicate the class to releasing her spirit.
Name her so we can feel her fly
into our arms, our legs. Like Minnehaha Falls,
like water streaming over wings.
…..
Minneapolis, city of lakes and butterflies.
Early summer light beams
through the studio windows.
……
Dance filled the place of worship
in our sister’s life so it’s the best we can do:
we two younger sisters make this memorial
on a smooth wooden floor surrounded by mirrors
reflecting ourselves back to each other.
……
The teacher instructs us in three improvisations.
We start with Agitation. Know all too well
the trembling she did. A whirlwind need
to elevate left her wanting more.
She practiced for hours.
……
Dance flowed through her fingers
when she played piano.
It fed her poetry. Her mantra –
never stop moving.
…….
Lose Control comes next. How hard
she’d tried not to feel the fury
of her losses, a shock to watch
her face freeze in that space
she’d kept deeply hidden.
…….
Embody Impact –after the pieces
are broken, bitter, bent
but still related –
…….
we prance across the floor,
come back together.
Our sister, here and not here.
….
This poem is from the chapbook Beneath the Blue Umbrella by Karen Marker (Finishing Line Press) and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/beneath-the-blue-umbrella-by-karen-marker/
Beneath the Blue Umbrella tells stories of generational trauma and mental illness amid the daily miracles of life and the natural world. With the sudden death of the narrator’s sister comes the freedom to uncover family secrets. Through poetry and short prose, the reader journeys from mental institutions, mid-century bedrooms, cemeteries and battlefields to intimate backyard forests and Rocky Mountains peaks. While the book speaks to the heart of those who have suffered from the stigma surrounding mental illness and struggled to understand the pain passed down through families, ultimately it is about living beneath an umbrella of love, finding interconnection, resilience and healing through our shared rituals and creative work.
Karen Marker is an Oakland- based writer who trained and worked as a school psychologist for thirty-five years before turning her full attention to writing poetry, essays and flash memoir. Her work explores themes of loss, trauma, and mental illness and is informed by her belief that the creative arts and encounters with the natural world are paths to healing. Karen’s poetry has been published in anthologies and journals including The MacGuffin, The Monterey Poetry Review, the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Slant Poetry, Wingless Dreamer and Vistas and Byways Literary Review, where she has also served as an editor. It can also be found in the Kent State University May 4th Special Collections and Archives. She has won awards through the Keats Soul-Making Literary Competition and the Ina Coolbrith Circle.
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