This image was chosen because cemeteries are a sacred place and I had a recent connection with the sacred nature of a cemetery.
This is a poem from a student inspired by how they connected to nature during a fieldtrip to test the water at the Detroit River, and Bloody Run Creek this school year. Enjoy!
| I. “As I enter the cemetery I am instantly reminded of my first funeral. It was February. I watched my grandmother get glued and hammered into a little mausoleum. It was that day that Zora Nunley became strikingly aware of other people’s graves. Before, I saw them simply as dead people. But now I realize they were not simply lost in their battle with death” II. “but carried in people’s hearts as I carried Nana in mine. They had their own stories and achievements. Their own familiesand loved ones. Their own conflicts and disagreements were carried into people’s hearts just as I carried Nana in mine.” III. “I know I said it was my first funeral but it was not my first loss. The ones before were just less personal. I’d lost when my family jumped off the ships. I’d lost when my family perished under the sweltering heat.” IV. “And often, I wonder how many I’ve lost since; the many I can’t find in a cemetery but instead in an unmarked grave somewhere in the South. Zora Nunley is strikingly aware of other people’s graves. So when I talk to my grandmother or my ancestors I wonder if they’re aware I see them– if they see me. I hope people will someday do the same for me. These are the ideas I hold sacred to my heart.” |
By: Zora, 8th Grade
Teacher: Charlene Jones, The James and Grace Lee Boggs School, Detroit
Subject: Detroit
Theme: General Place-Based Education
Type: Poetry
Zora, I love the way you played with the structure of this poem. It’s clear that you’re a reader of poetry. I, too, feel connected to ancestors in the way that you describe here. And you painted a haunting image with your grandmother getting “glued and hammered into a little mausoleum.” Powerful
Very beautiful and how true!