{"id":1168,"date":"2015-02-09T00:00:45","date_gmt":"2015-02-09T05:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1168"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:39","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:39","slug":"feb-9-the-joins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/02\/09\/feb-9-the-joins\/","title":{"rendered":"Feb 9 – “The Joins”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, February \u00a09 \u00a0– \u00a0\u201cScar tissue is visible history \u00a0. . . \u201c<\/p>\n

Many friends have seen the leather based, bead-worked stole a Lakota woman created in 1970. \u00a0 Two other women told me to wear it as I walked in procession to be ordained a priest on May 25, 1970. \u00a0 \u00a0In pictures from that day, the white of the leather is hard to distinguish from the white of the robe I wore. \u00a0 Today the stole shows its age. \u00a0I sometimes tease about its battered 44 year condition; \u201cit\u2019s blessed a lot of pain and heard a lot of courage, and wears its history.\u201d \u00a0Several crafts-people have repaired it at times when it was falling to pieces. \u00a0 \u00a0Is the stole more beautiful now or when the Lakota artist created it? \u00a0Beautiful both times. \u00a0Beauty from its first artist, beauty from grief and despair and playful energy that have worn it down.<\/p>\n

Which is more beautiful among our students? \u00a0Their dazzling achievements or their fatigue? \u00a0Both I think: \u00a0\u201cscar tissue is visible history\u201d says today\u2019s poet. \u00a0 Same thing for us non-students who give our energy and skill and affection for the rebirth of hope in ourselves and in the world. \u00a0“The fatigue is worth it,” says our behavior day by day.<\/p>\n

\"stole\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Chana Bloch is a poet new to me. \u00a0She writes here about a broken pot turned radiant by an artist joining its pieces back to a new whole, more beautiful than the original.<\/p>\n

Best to read the poem out loud, with pauses.<\/p>\n

Blessings on the new week.<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Chana Bloch: “The Joins”<\/a><\/h2>\n

Posted by Phyllis Cole-Dai on Feb 05, 2015 12:00 am<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Kintsugi\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kintsugi\u00a0<\/em>is the Japanese art of mending precious pottery with gold.
\nWhat’s between us
\noften seems flexible as the webbing
\nbetween forefinger and thumb.<\/p>\n

Seems flexible, but it’s not;
\nwhat’s between us
\nis made of clay,<\/p>\n

like any cup on the shelf.
\nIt shatters easily. Repair
\nbecomes the task.<\/p>\n

We glue the wounded edges
\nwith tentative fingers.
\nScar tissue is visible history,<\/p>\n

the cup more precious to us
\nbecause
\nwe saved it.<\/p>\n

In the art of\u00a0kintsugi,\u00a0<\/em>
\na potter repairing a broken cup
\nwould sprinkle the resin<\/p>\n

with powdered gold.
\nSometimes the joins
\nare so exquisite<\/p>\n

they say the potter
\nmay have broken the cup
\njust so he could mend it.
\n“The Joins” by\u00a0Chana Bloch.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Text as\u00a0published<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0The Southern Review<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(Winter 2014).<\/p>\n

Curator’s note:<\/em>\u00a0Kintsugi<\/em>\u00a0is the Japanese way of honoring and repairing broken ceramic objects with a special lacquer mixed with silver, gold or platinum. It’s an embracing of the flawed or imperfect, honoring it as essential. As the artist Barbara Bloom writes, “[Japanese\u00a0kintsugi<\/em>\u00a0artists] believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.”<\/p>\n

Art credit:<\/em>\u00a0A bowl restored the\u00a0kintsugi<\/em>\u00a0way by Morti and Patty at the\u00a0Lakeside Pottery and Ceramics Restoration Studio,<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0image<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by unknown photographer.<\/p>\n

\"Chana-Bloch\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, February \u00a09 \u00a0– \u00a0\u201cScar tissue is visible history \u00a0. . . \u201c Many friends have seen the leather based, bead-worked stole a Lakota woman created in 1970. \u00a0 Two other women told me to wear it as I walked … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1172,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168\/revisions\/1172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}