Special

Left alone, wet diaper staining the floorboards
I cried and cried and cried
until I stopped.

Without love, without hugs, so cold
I turned inward to seek something else:
to make myself special.

Pain shattered my baby mind
into a thousand bits
'We'll make you special,' said the bits.

They took me to the underworld
fed me pomegranate seeds and mead
and danced around me in the dark.

'We're here to keep bad people bad,' said the bits
and they put me on a pedestal
and crowned me Queen of Hell.

I was their flashlight in the gloom
with batteries that never died,
though I wanted to.

I stood on my pedestal
shackled by the throat
my crown bejeweled, so special.

Singing my soft song: 'I bravely go
where only darkness grows,'
song of the bird in the gilded cage.

The bits became magnets
to draw in fear and rape
they split and grew many, grew into an army.

My bird soul battered
against its cage of gold,
its special cage. So special.

'Be free or die,' sang the bird soul
'Die,' said the bits
'Be Free,' said I.

Be Free. And with those words
the child's spell was broken,
the Queen of Hell threw off her shackle.

Her image fell to pieces, jeweled crown shattered
Her light went into my heart
the army of bits stood down.

The little bird flew.
The little bird sang.
Just an ordinary bird.
A bird like all others.
Nothing special.

Tonight in Seattle!

March 19th: Annual Rosie the Riveter Slam & Featured Performer Dorothy Lemoult

Open Mic, Featured Performer and the Annual Rosie the Riveter Slam:The 3rd Annual Rosie Slam is open to Women Only in honor of National Women’s History Month.
Email info@seattlepoetryslam.org for more info.
When screenwriter Angela Shelton set out to make a documentary country interviewing other women who shared her name, she was shocked to find that 70% had been victims of rape, childhood sexual assault and/or domestic violence. This surprising journey also led Angela to confront her own abusive past. The multi-award winning documentary that culminated has started a grassroots movement of survivors and humanitarian organizations around the world who are breaking the silence about the epidemic of abuse. Angela has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, 48 Hours Investigates and an exclusive version of “Searching for Angela Shelton” aired on Lifetime TV in April 2006.
As part of a call to action for a healing revolution, actor and director and playwright Dorothy Lemoult will lead an all female cast in bringing several of Angela Shelton’s monologues to life as our feature for the evening.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 19TH AT TOST in Seattle!

Come out and support one of the Angels!

Ellen Bass's new book, The Human Line

Ellen Bass cowrote The Courage to Heal for anyone who does not know.


Hi Angela,

I do have some great workshops coming up over the next year or so I'd love people to know about. I'd also be very grateful if you'd include anything about my recent book.

Many many thanks,

Ellen

"Ellen Bass's frighteningly personal poems about sex, love, birth, motherhood, and aging are kept from mere confession by the graces of wit, an observant eye, an empathetic heart, and just the right image deployed at just the right time. The Human Line is full of real stunners." —Billy Collins

Dear Friends & Writers,

I'm happy to announce that my new book, The Human Line, was recently published by Copper Canyon Press. It's available at your local bookstore or online.

Please scroll down for a schedule of workshops and poetry readings. I'd be grateful if you'd forward this to any friends who might be interested. Thank you for all your support,

Ellen

P.S. Please visit www.ellenbass.com to read poems from The Human Line.

More Praise for The Human Line:

"Ever since her first book, I have admired the tough, urgent, and wildly human poems of Ellen Bass. The Human Line deepens my regard for her necessary and indelible voice." --Thomas Lux

"There are some lovely poems in The Human Line, poems that live up to the splendid title, with all that it implies of our continuity in grief and joy. There are poems that cut deep into our sense of self and of primal relationships."--Carolyn Kizer

Ellen Bass is such a trustworthy guide -- awake to the certainty of death, to the irreconcilable losses, and to the daily imperfect reprieve of love. These are poems of quiet joy and true comfort. I read the book to the end, and then started, from the beginning, again." --Marie Howe

Upcoming Workshops:

September 5-7, 2008
The Writer's Life
Esalen, Big Sur, CA.
For more information and to register, visit www.esalen.org or call 831-667-3005

December 7-12, 2008
Writing & Knowing: A Poetry Workshop
taught by Ellen Bass, Dorianne Laux, and Joe Millar
Esalen, Big Sur, CA
For more information and to register, visit www.esalen.org or call 831-667-3005

April 24-26, 2009
White Lotus Poetry Workshop
with Ellen Bass
Rowe Conference Center
22 Kings Hwy
Rowe, MA
for more information call 413-339-4954 or visit rowecenter.org

May 27-31, 2009
Truth & Beauty
A Poetry Workshop with Ellen Bass & Marie Howe
Mabel Dodge Luhan Inn in Taos, New Mexico
For more info, email

ellen @ ellenbass.com

For an ongoing calendar of poetry readings and workshops, please visit www.ellenbass.com

------------------------------