Although I don't normally post my creative writing work here, I thought in the interest of diversity and keeping things interesting that I might post a couple of the poems I am/have been working on. These don't explicitly deal with disability, except for one that deals with my daughter's asthma and my struggles with interpreting and trying to accept her struggles. It has some religious overtones...with my final interpretation leading me in the direction of Ivan Karamazov's protest atheism...but that's a topic for another time. So read these and let me know your thoughts...I'm trying to get them cleaned up for submission to be published, but just don't know where else to take them. Perhaps that's one of the pitfalls of being a part-time amateur poet...not enough time to really get good.
First Daughter
This unearthly bundle I carry
In my arms at dawn, tips reaching eyes,
Sleep flushed cheeks and nonsense
Mouth towards me asking,
Between words, my blessing
upon the spreading day.
Mornings spent walking
Through the little world we knew
Her eyes grasping every bright thing
Through the cool shade
of sycamores along the millstream,
then into the open streets
lined by spruce, maple, and heirloom
apple trees that reach out to us
through weathered fences, heavy with fruit.
Later we rest, under a massive
Scotch Pine in a mosaic of fragmented
sunlight. I lay her down by my side,
on the green lawn watching redpolls
and nuthatches Flit from feeder to branch;
her eyes filled with the energy
of such curious things, open to what I
have forgotten to see.
Together, by turns we simply smile; rolling
Her laughing face to me I cannot help but
Sweep her up onto my shoulder;
her unbearable lightness displacing
Worldly chips also of my design.
Flight
Coyote’s sharp call over the dark hill,
In the neighboring farmer’s green wheat field
Breathes wildness back into the rolling hum
Of late-night trucks on highway ninety-one.
Squinting past the night I can make out
Upturned muzzle of creator cousin:
Faint wisps of canine breath drift into dark
Sky dappled with appaloosa star marks
Thickening in lighter clusters along
The spine of the heavens arching above.
My head remembers the imminent dawn;
I slip on my shoes, cross the damp, soft lawn
Looking for the tracks coyote has left
In the damp clay of the winter wheat field.
I will follow them to his daytime den
Where we will hide together from the
Responsible tomorrow sky
Isabelle’s Test
In the beginning it became necessary
To parcel out the leftover suffering
Upon a random sample of children.
To ensure that (if) Christ’s suffering
Was too short-sighted; Insufficient
Compensation for all Of our sins,
Misdeeds, and evil, then just in case,
There would be an ongoing second
Atonement through the calculated
Mathematical asphyxiation of
asthmatic children.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tying Sustainability to Disability: Our Latest Project
New Moscow Garden Offers Hope
Dec. 10, 2008
Written by Cheryl Dudley
MOSCOW, Idaho – A new garden designed specifically to accommodate wheelchairs, individuals with disabilities and other community members who need an accessible plot for gardening will add a new dimension to the Moscow Community Garden.
The University of Idaho's Center on Disabilities and Human Development, in partnership with the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute, received a $1,500 Sustainable Idaho Initiative grant to expand the capacity of the Moscow garden.
Named Hope Community Garden, the project will include nine raised beds with attached seats for ease in bending, resting and planting, and compact gravel pathways and two planting tables to accommodate wheelchairs. One of the nine raised beds will be set aside as a community plot to allow gardeners to grow and donate produce to Backyard Harvest, an organization that facilitates the delivery of excess garden produce to local food banks.
“There are many day to day activities that persons without disabilities take for granted... one of those is gardening,” said College of Education faculty Matt Wappett, principle investigator for the project. “In Moscow there is an especially active and vital part of the community that revolves around agriculture and gardening, and yet gardening in all its simplicity can be an activity that is wholly inaccessible to a person with disabilities or even elderly individuals.”
“Having accessible plots in the community garden will provide us with more than fruits and vegetables,” said Jennifer Magelky-Seiler, Hope Garden supporter. “It provides us with the opportunity to be a part of our community in a way that we currently do not have. Living in an apartment, we, like many people, do not have outdoor space in which we can plant a garden.”
Volunteers from the community and university are needed to complete the project. PCEI will oversee the legwork and construction elements of the project, while University of Idaho students will provide the majority of the work this coming spring.
Local outreach experiences allow students opportunities to be active participants in learning and to give back to their community. The Hope Garden project will educate students in the environment, sustainable efforts, individuals with disabilities and community advocacy. In addition, the project will improve the quality of life for gardeners by providing opportunities for social interaction, encouragement of self-reliance, provision of healthy green space, and opportunities for therapy, exercise and recreation.
Hope Community Garden will be a model for future University of Idaho collaborations with community partners. Although the focus of the grant will be on sustainability, the process of working together highlights the importance of building relationships, determining mutually beneficial outcomes and establishing common goals.
“Thankfully, we live in a community with a strong support infrastructure for this type of project and we look forward to working with PCEI, the Cooperative Extension and other community partners to see this through to completion,” said Wappett.
The College of Education will match 25 percent of the grant award, and CDHD is looking for additional funding through local sources. The project is scheduled to be completed June 2009.
“The new accessible garden will provide us with the opportunity to mix with members of our community, to share gardening insights and show the community that people with disabilities enjoy doing many of the same activities that they do, ” said Magelky-Seiler.
“Just because somebody has a disability, doesn't mean that they can't play a part in sustainability; that is a key element to this project,” said Wappett. “We not only want people to feel valued and included, but we also want to make sure that people with disabilities who are concerned about sustainability and the origin of their food have an opportunity to make a difference, just like anyone else would.”
The Center on Disabilities and Human Development within the College of Education is one of a 67-member university network of centers serving individuals with disabilities and their families. CDHD functions as a bridge between the university and the community, bringing together the resources of both to achieve change. In addition, CDHD trains and educates the next generation of leaders in disability-related issues, creating meaningful change that advances policy and practices, and disseminates research based information that will benefit our communities.
Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute is a respected organization that provides community service opportunities for individuals who have a developmental disability and youth at risk, working with private landowners to restore streams, rivers and wetlands, while expanding students’ minds to scientific concepts and the importance of maintaining a sustainable world. In addition, PCEI has a strong interest in promoting the inclusion of all community members in the experience of growing and harvesting their own food.
Dec. 10, 2008
Written by Cheryl Dudley
MOSCOW, Idaho – A new garden designed specifically to accommodate wheelchairs, individuals with disabilities and other community members who need an accessible plot for gardening will add a new dimension to the Moscow Community Garden.
The University of Idaho's Center on Disabilities and Human Development, in partnership with the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute, received a $1,500 Sustainable Idaho Initiative grant to expand the capacity of the Moscow garden.
Named Hope Community Garden, the project will include nine raised beds with attached seats for ease in bending, resting and planting, and compact gravel pathways and two planting tables to accommodate wheelchairs. One of the nine raised beds will be set aside as a community plot to allow gardeners to grow and donate produce to Backyard Harvest, an organization that facilitates the delivery of excess garden produce to local food banks.
“There are many day to day activities that persons without disabilities take for granted... one of those is gardening,” said College of Education faculty Matt Wappett, principle investigator for the project. “In Moscow there is an especially active and vital part of the community that revolves around agriculture and gardening, and yet gardening in all its simplicity can be an activity that is wholly inaccessible to a person with disabilities or even elderly individuals.”
“Having accessible plots in the community garden will provide us with more than fruits and vegetables,” said Jennifer Magelky-Seiler, Hope Garden supporter. “It provides us with the opportunity to be a part of our community in a way that we currently do not have. Living in an apartment, we, like many people, do not have outdoor space in which we can plant a garden.”
Volunteers from the community and university are needed to complete the project. PCEI will oversee the legwork and construction elements of the project, while University of Idaho students will provide the majority of the work this coming spring.
Local outreach experiences allow students opportunities to be active participants in learning and to give back to their community. The Hope Garden project will educate students in the environment, sustainable efforts, individuals with disabilities and community advocacy. In addition, the project will improve the quality of life for gardeners by providing opportunities for social interaction, encouragement of self-reliance, provision of healthy green space, and opportunities for therapy, exercise and recreation.
Hope Community Garden will be a model for future University of Idaho collaborations with community partners. Although the focus of the grant will be on sustainability, the process of working together highlights the importance of building relationships, determining mutually beneficial outcomes and establishing common goals.
“Thankfully, we live in a community with a strong support infrastructure for this type of project and we look forward to working with PCEI, the Cooperative Extension and other community partners to see this through to completion,” said Wappett.
The College of Education will match 25 percent of the grant award, and CDHD is looking for additional funding through local sources. The project is scheduled to be completed June 2009.
“The new accessible garden will provide us with the opportunity to mix with members of our community, to share gardening insights and show the community that people with disabilities enjoy doing many of the same activities that they do, ” said Magelky-Seiler.
“Just because somebody has a disability, doesn't mean that they can't play a part in sustainability; that is a key element to this project,” said Wappett. “We not only want people to feel valued and included, but we also want to make sure that people with disabilities who are concerned about sustainability and the origin of their food have an opportunity to make a difference, just like anyone else would.”
The Center on Disabilities and Human Development within the College of Education is one of a 67-member university network of centers serving individuals with disabilities and their families. CDHD functions as a bridge between the university and the community, bringing together the resources of both to achieve change. In addition, CDHD trains and educates the next generation of leaders in disability-related issues, creating meaningful change that advances policy and practices, and disseminates research based information that will benefit our communities.
Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute is a respected organization that provides community service opportunities for individuals who have a developmental disability and youth at risk, working with private landowners to restore streams, rivers and wetlands, while expanding students’ minds to scientific concepts and the importance of maintaining a sustainable world. In addition, PCEI has a strong interest in promoting the inclusion of all community members in the experience of growing and harvesting their own food.
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