Poems for Troubled Times
By Danielle Kohn
Westchester County Youth Poet Laureate
Although we are all going through a period of physical separation, we somehow feel more connected than ever before. Poet Jane Hirshfield celebrates human connection in her poem “For What Binds Us.” She explains that while the forces that draw us together may be tangible like nails or intangible like gravity, all you have to do is look around to see how firmly we are linked together. I think that is very true of our community today. We realize that each one of us can impact the health of those around us, so we are taking responsible precautions to keep one another safe. We all feel connected in our collective appreciation for the frontline workers we cannot live without. We are bound together by acts of kindness that have mobilized our community in unprecedented ways. Ironically, the pandemic has brought us together by forcing us apart.
This poem also explores how pain can be a source of connection, and it beautifully concludes that after we heal, we will emerge better than we were before. Hirshfield reassures us that the flesh which grows over a wound is tougher than undamaged skin, and the scar that is left behind serves as a badge of honor we can point to with pride. This sentiment is an inspirational reminder that we will get through this difficult time, and when we do, the adversity will make us stronger. The lesions will produce a cohesion that cannot be shattered.