THE BLADE — WHAT WE CARVE AWAY

BY TRACY SCHLAPP

In this second of a four-part series from the chapbook, Roots Meet Below the Crossroads, we consider what we let go. This Regional Arts and Culture Council-supported writing program at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility encouraged the women to take the lead in selecting themes and producing work that they refined over time and finally, performed for their peers in the prison’s Chapel. The book is divided into four sections: rope, blade, mirror, lantern. This references the tools carried by Hecate, the Greek goddess who travelled land, sea, and the underworlds with people who were outcast. As a group, we decided to consider the crossroads where one would encounter Hecate and the writers dug deep to let the metaphor inform their pieces.

As with all of the our workshops, Danny Wilson and I write alongside the writers and so I offer my poem SECOND. Last winter, I had an opportunity to attend a work party at the Japanese Healing Garden at Oregon State Penitentiary. In 2018, Tom and Laura Dufala the owners of Bentwood Tree Farm donated trees to the traditional garden and have worked with the men to teach them how to care for those trees. Sight-lines from the prison towers can never be impeded, so the trees and bamboo need to be carefully pruned — they can never grow beyond eight feet. A very cold, grey day in January, Tom led a group of men and me through the mechanics and the aesthetics of trimming the pines.

Kristie Jeffers, a proud member of the Grand Ronde nation is a leader within the Coffee Creek community. She holds a coveted dog-trainer position and typically will bring the dog in her care to our sessions in order to continue his socialization. Her poem ALL THE TIMES is direct and an accurate portrait of her evolution.

This month we have been traveling to Pendleton, Baker City, and Lakeview to run our writing workshops inside and catch up with folks we met in the spring and summer. During the workshops we foster the developing writing communities in each prison. In Lakeview we were warmly welcomed by the Friends of the Library, Lake County. We take advantage of these opportunities to not only share the work by our writers but to give people in the community a chance to learn more about volunteering inside local prisons. A grant from Oregon Humanities supports this work. | TDS