Our final poet is Sistah Joy Alford, Prince George’s County Poet Laureate. Sistah Joy shares a poem about finding peace in the midst of the pandemic, along with her thoughts on writing during this ongoing crisis. She told us, “As a woman/poet of color, I have always written about social issues, primarily social justice/injustice issues. There remains much about the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises that are directly related to inequity in this country. My poems continue to reflect the various realities that impact Black and Brown people disproportionately.”

Over the past months, we have been honored to share the COVID Poetry & Art Project. The project is a collaboration between DCTRENDING and author Mike Maggio. It’s been a joy to curate the poems and visual art and to see the thoughtful, powerful responses from participants to our interviews. Thanks for going on this journey with us. If you haven’t read all the posts, please poke around on the site! We have a new subheading, labeled COVID Project so that you can find all the poets and artists.

yours,

Norah Vawter, Local Authors Editor

Cecilia Mencia, Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Kitchen Window

by J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews Alford

 

Standing here

the world looks bright.

Squirrels still scamper

and red-breasted robins hop

amid my freshly cut lawn.

A lone but lovely lilac bush

and soon to bloom forsythia

soothe my spirit.

  

All seems right with the world

through this window.

Countless have been the tranquil hours

we have shared.  She has been my respite,

affording me moments of peace and

serenity amid life’s tumultuous storms,

shielding me, albeit momentarily,

from some of life’s harshest realities.

Her gently framed view of the world

provides, even now, a pastoral view

that is sacred to my soul.

  

I come to this sacred space

knowing it has been given to me

for times such as this

when reality overwhelms

and would deny the notion

that beauty still exists—

this space where even washing a dish

can return calm and control to my life

banishing such blight as disease and pandemics,

signals that the ravages of devastation and loss

linger so very close by

© 4/19/2020, J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews Alford

[This poem was first published on MikeMaggio.net as part of the first iteration of the COVID Poetry & Art Project. Read the original post here.]

Chatting with Sistah Joy

Can you tell us a little about this poem or piece of art and how you came to create it?

My poem, "Kitchen Window," conveys the experience of peace and tranquility I felt one particular morning while looking out of my kitchen window. I had just watched another news report about the raging COVID-19 pandemic whose numbers were skyrocketing. It seemed I had more or less "retreated" to my window and was staring at two squirrels playfully chasing one another. There were a few robins pecking for their breakfast and the sun was -- not bright, but pushing through some light clouds. I began washing dishes and for a moment I was able to disengage from the reality of the pandemic. I wrote the poem in an effort to hold on to that moment, not knowing if I'd ever feel that way again. I feel that I wrote this poem as a "counter-weight" against the horror of the reality that had settled in my spirit after ingesting so many news reports of death and dying, seeing bodies placed in trucks outside of a hospital. It was also one of my personal responses to the foreboding fear about the unknowable, the uncertainty about how close the pandemic would come to "me and mine."

How has the current crisis (or crises) influenced your art?

As a woman/poet of color, I have always written about social issues, primarily social justice/injustice issues. There remains much about the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises that is directly related to inequity in this country. My poems continue to reflect the various realities that impact Black and Brown people disproportionately.

What role do you think the arts play in times of turmoil and uncertainty?

The arts are a critically-needed avenue through which individuals can express their views, needs, concerns, hopes, and fears. Arts-based self-expression allows emotional release and also provides a sense of power in times of chaos and turmoil. In the absence of such opportunities, harmful, divisive and potentially explosive forms of expression can result in dangerous and counter-productive acts. The arts allow for an artist's "truth" to be shared, and in so doing, it gives voice to individuals who may have otherwise been silenced or marginalized. The arts offers connection, communication, and community.

What are you reading/watching/listening to these days?

Today I watched a video salute to Sonia Sanchez. I recently watched the short film, "Two Distant Strangers," which I feel is still so very significant and timely. I'm reading poems from Collected Poems: 1974-2004 by Rita Dove. I'm still reading John Lewis' Walking With The Wind. I listen to E. Ethelbert Miller and Grace Cavalieri on their radio talk shows when I get the chance.

Do you have a favorite local writer or artist (DC area)?

Poet and young adult author, Jason Reynolds, and former DC Poet Laureate, the late Dolores Kendrick.

Anything else you want to say?

Thank you for providing this opportunity to share and hear voices and views through the COVID Poetry and Art Project.

About the Poet

J. Joy Matthews Alford, "Sistah Joy," is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Prince George's County, Maryland. She is the author of three collections of poems, Lord I'm Dancin' As Fast As I Can , From Pain to Empowerment, The Fabric of My Being, and This Garden Called Life. She has produced and hosted the poetry-based cable television show, Sojourn with Words, since its inception in 2005. Sistah Joy received the Poet Laureate Special Award (2002) for “her outstanding contributions to the art of poetry” in her native Washington, DC. She is the founder of the socially-conscious poetry ensemble, Collective Voices. For the past 18 years Sistah Joy has served as the president of the Ebenezer A.M.E. Church Poetry Ministry, a ministry she helped to establish in 2003. Find her online at www.sistahjoy.com.