1.
Proposal of Maryann DiEdwardo Ed.D.
2. Introductory
Essay and Review of the Research by Maryann DiEdwardo Ed.D.
3. Chapbook
by Maryann DiEdwardo Ed.D.
Pennsylvania College English Association Conference 2013
Gettysburg. PA
Name: Dr. Maryann DiEdwardo
Institutional Affiliation/Position: Lehigh University, Adjunct Professor for
the Computer Science and Engineering Department Graduate School (Writing Coach)
and Adjunct Associate Professor University of Maryland University College
(Adjunct Professor for Literature)
Mailing Address: 3435 Dartmouth Dr. Bethlehem, PA 18020
Phone number: 610-349-1573
E-mail address: mad207@lehigh.edu
Title of proposed presentation: Poetry
of Landscape of Gettysburg: Wild Imaginative Musings of War and Death
250-500 word abstract:
Poetry of Landscape
of Gettysburg: Wild Imaginative Musings of War and Death
In my original poetry that I create about Gettysburg, I
write sets of works to synthesize and to suggest that Gettysburg is a living
memorial, alive with ghosts of the past that will remain forever. Based on my own sensory experiences as
a biker, camper, road trip enthusiast, painter, poet, and Pennsylvania resident
for my entire life, I relate such specific moments as hearing haunting sounds,
seeing ghost sightings, and related experiences through free verse poems to
echo my truths and to create the artistry present in these experiences. Based
on my regular visits to the Battlefields, as an artist and poetry scholar, I
write new sets of poems in 2013 to express my reflections.
For the truth we find in the meaning of landscape in the
aftermath of the most brutal war in America leaves us with great loss. Yet, as
a dwelling for the future generations to recall and to re-experience the Civil
War, Gettysburg is a living memorial landscape. As artisans of the word, poets can
use poetry as a vehicle to seek to recreate the human condition. Loss is so
imbedded in Gettysburg that we can feel the pain as we traverse the landscape.
Furthermore, through my own experience of basing original
poetry on a travel diary, I create strategies based on the travel journaling
based on my own unique interpretations of the Gettysburg Landscape.
As I embark on this 2013 poetry
endeavor, I rely on my past experience as a poet and an artist. Previous
published poems include: DiEdwardo, Maryann.
Brown Bagazine 4. “Like the Snow.”
Spring 2008. Tucker, Georgia: Gypsy Daughter. Editor, Any Lynn Hess.
www.gypsydaughter.com
“Spring Wind” “Cloud Shadow” “Gentleness” “Friend Frog” “Nutritious Fun”
“Anointing” “Daffodil” “Dances” “The Gate” “Soar” were in a book co-authored
and illustrated by Maryann Pasda DiEdwardo entitled Write a Book of Haiku that
was recognized by Dan Poynter and first appeared in 1994. “Joseph” won
Honorable Mention, first appeared in American Poetry Anthology Volume VI,
Number 1, Spring 1986. “Growing Toward Death” semi-finalist, first appeared in The International Library
of Poetry 2002.“Like the Snow” first appeared in Pennsylvania Voices Book Three
co-authored and illustrated by Maryann Pasda DiEdwardo 2006. “Rivers” first
appeared in Pennsylvania Voices Book Three co-authored and illustrated by
Maryann Pasda DiEdwardo 2006. “The Day the Trees Spoke” first appeared the The
Art of Trees co-authored and illustrated by Maryann Pasda DiEdwardo 2006.
POET Maryann DiEdwardo Ed.D.
Essay
2013
Poetry of Landscape
of Gettysburg: Wild Imaginative Musings of War and Death
In my original poetry that I create about Gettysburg, I write sets of
works to synthesize and to suggest that Gettysburg is a living memorial, alive
with ghosts of the past that will remain forever. Based on my own sensory experiences from 1992 to 1998 in my
home state of Pennsylvania, I visited the historic sites as a biker, camper,
road trip enthusiast, painter, poet, and Pennsylvania poet; I relate such
specific moments as hearing haunting sounds, seeing ghost sightings, and
related experiences through free verse poems to echo my truths and to create
the artistry present in these experiences. Based on my regular visits to the
Battlefields, as an artist and poetry scholar, I write new sets of poems in
2013 to express my reflections. Obviously, I am quite thoughtful about my
experiences in Gettysburg.
The poetry project began on the day
that I created my proposal for the Pennsylvania College English Association
Conference in Gettysburg in 2013 (December 9 2012). My technique includes imagery, memory, and story. For the
truth we find in the meaning of landscape in the aftermath of the most brutal war
in America leaves us with great loss. Yet, as a dwelling for the future
generations to recall and to re-experience the Civil War, Gettysburg is a living
memorial landscape. As artisans of the word, poets can use poetry as a vehicle
to seek to recreate the human condition. Loss is so imbedded in Gettysburg that
we can feel the pain as we traverse the landscape. As a visual artist and writer, I study my own practice of
writing as a healing endeavor, which is necessary for human intelligence
(DiEdwardo. The Horse Keeper. 2008).
Furthermore, through my own experience of basing original poetry on a
travel diary, I create strategies based on the travel journaling based on my
own unique interpretations of the Gettysburg landscape. Influences include
Herman Melville, Carl Sandburg, and Biblical Poetry such as the Psalms and the
Book of Job. Free form and haiku are my favorite forms of poetry, so I began
with a haiku on December 9, 2012. Other poems include “In the Mist” which I
wrote on December 12, 2012 and “Past Present and Future” which I finished on
December 29, 2012. In 2013, I created “Day is Night and Night is Day” (February
3, 2013) and added my newest poems to a Chapbook Project that is finished as a
presentation of narrative free form with the one haiku as a opening poem and
“Ending” as the closing poem.
Poetry helps me heal from grief which can be about life changes, deaths
of loved ones, or catastrophic events. For instance, as a student at Penn State
University in the 1970’s, a graduate student at Lehigh University in the early
80’s, and a poet since my career in writing started in the late 80’s, I often
ponder memoires of Gettysburg landscape as a metaphor for overcoming loss. How
can a war memorial captivate me for so long? In my reflections from December 9
through the present, I am continuing to write about my Gettysburg as a
Pennsylvanian who created a set of books called Pennsylvania Voices which
portrays my poetry as a function of narrative of the main characters.
Poetry about battles is unique and carries great emotion. For example,
Herman Melville’s work about Gettysburg “are eminences illuminated by lightning
strokes (Untermeyer Ed. 918).” Melville who lived from 1819 to 1891, was born
and raised in New York City. He left school at age fifteen to help support his
family. IN 1841, he sailed on a whaler…was captured by cannibalistic
natives,…but escaped and went to Tahiti where he worked as a field laborer and
Honolulu where he enlisted as a seaman. In 1843, he returned home and began
writing romantic novels based on his exotic adventures. His masterpieces
include Moby Dick (1851) which were a commercial and critical failure and his
poems which he began writing in the 1870’s were largely ignored. In 1866,
Melville went to work as a customs inspector in New York City and he died in
near obscurity and dire poverty. The Civil War had made Melville a poet in that
it gave him a subject of magnitude and complexity (Robert Penn Warren). In his
war poems (Battle Pieces 1866)
Melville explores the equivocal nature of experience (Ferguson, Salter,
Stallworthy, The Norton Anthology of
Poetry, 1917).
The passion for writing about war also intrigued Carl Sandburg. The poet
had experiences writing about war early in his career. Born in Galesburg,
Illinois, the poet lived from 1878-1967.
He left school after the eighth grade to support his family, but later attended Lombard College. Afterwards,
he travelled the country in search of folks songs and wrote his immensely
popular volumes called Cornhuskers (1918)
document his war experiences. In the 1930’s, Sandburg became active in the
Socialist Movement and devoted study to Abraham Lincoln. ballads which he
collected in The American Songbag (1927).
Carl Sandburg’s poem “Grass” alludes to Gettysburg. Carl Sandburg was an
American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer
Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H.
L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every
pulse-beat."
In the Book of Job, the plot centers on a devout spirit shaken by
personal suffering and universal distress. A patient tortured by misfortune and
his friends, who is answered by God. Its date and authorship, its purpose and
relationship to other writings are controversial. Some critics find a
resemblance between the Book of Job and the Greek Philosophical Dialogues;
others claim it resembles a Greek tragedy; most importantly, is the blend of
philosophy and poetry, a fusion never surpassed in literature.
Works Cited
Ferguson, Salter, Stallworthy. The Norton Anthology of Poetry, fourth edition. New York: Norton, 1996.
Untermeyer, Ed. A
Treasury of Great Poems. New York: Galahad, 1992.
Title: The Poetry of Landscape after War and Death
A Chapbook
by Maryann DiEdwardo
Contents
1. The Poetry of Landscape after War and Death
2. From Gettysburg
3. Haiku
4. In the Mist
5. Snow and Graves
6. Past Present Future in Gettysburg
7. Day is Night and Night is Day
8. Overcoming Poverty
9. Eating Roots
10. Discussions
11. Writing between Rivers
12. Myth
13. Themes
14. Ending
The Poetry of Landscape after War and Death
by Maryann DiEdwardo
Weeks of camping,
biking through rolling frivolous lightly windy grassy fields
and walking through the battlefields
I search for words to recreate my reflections;
poetic insights about the aftermath of war and death from the perspective of landscape.
With the eye of an artist, I view the landscape of the Pennsylvania hills
with the glory and trepidation. For the seasons touch the land softly as the
truths bite us, capture us, imprison us with horrific memories of loss
From Gettysburg
By
Maryann DiEdwardo
From Sandburg’s “Grass” in 1918
The piles of bodies at Gettysburg
Enter our minds
From my reflections of the aftermath
of war and death
I watch myself as I react
I can not help but weep
inside so I do not despair
sons whom they loved
fought and died for freedom
as we still fight today
war does not cease
Haiku
By
Maryann DiEdwardo
Sitting still I wait
Wait…hush…the sound of battle
Awakens me now
In the Mist by Maryann DiEdwardo
Quietly, I lie
The hush pushed my mind to the present
White mist surrounding me
Suddenly, I am aware of the presence in the far right space over the hill
Knowingness, otherworldliness, prompts me to be wary of my judgments
Of course, memory haunts me, places, presences
Yet, I hear sounds that are under and over my consciousness
Softly, I observe my observances to acknowledge presences as substance
But not of present space.
Presence is past events muted.
Softly, my awareness becomes keen.
I awake fully.
Sounds utter in the dark of night in the natural spaces of war…catbirds in the bush
Sounds form from the mist anoint me with spiritual presence.
My days are changing after these moments with the night, the mist, the sound of Gettysburg.
Change as awe. Changes of knowingness.
Otherworldliness inside. Landscapes as a guest to find lives, remembrances, truths, remember, plants, remember grass. Remember blood,
remember death.
I still wait.
A shout.
Another.
Still more.
And more.
Then the mist. Sleep again. But remember.
Snow and Graves by Maryann DiEdwardo
Lightly the flakes land.
As they accumulate, my sadness widens.
Residence of death, memories of people,
events of darkness now lightened by snow.
Past Present Future in Gettysburg
By Maryann DiEdwardo
I tell you that the spirituality of the past enlivens our hearts as we cherish the stories here at the place of our lives.
Hard to believe that death visited the holy ground with such magnitude.
Briefly, I gather the knowledge I have from my camping trips here. I await a glimmer of hope.
Winter
As the wind crawls then hovers, sounds of the felt waves of sorrow majestically beckon our hearts as we roll across snow laden trails of tears.
Spring
Upon the battlefield lies the soft cloud of remembrance. The touch of the pain dwells in the sounds of the wind.
Summer
Travel Gettysburg.
Flowers amidst sadness.
Crowds of those who try but fail to become like they were then.
They were only part of the whole war, the struggle, the strife.
Fall
Soothing colors amidst hills with only dark memories.
Such a place of sadness takes away the soul.
As the vanishing lives went away during war.
Day is Night and Night is Day
By Maryann DiEdwardo
Looking at the hills made me shiver.
How could I enjoy the biking around the stories of death?
Summer after summer we went to Gettysburg.
We spent time with history and death.
But the day was night as we saw dark times that ensued.
Night was day as the cat bird sang and I could feel the presence of ghosts.
overcoming poverty by maryann diedwardo
poverty
can be and shall be crushed
by the Glory of God and those who love.
Framed by an epic poem, our novel
The Passing Light is based
on our struggles as Judeo-Christian
Women who survived
the brutal violence akin
to domestic strife of the twentieth
century, a heritage of Judaism
that was hidden for many years,
and a life in Christ that they
accept and lead as attending
members of
Trinity Episcopal Church
in Bethlehem
where they help feed the poor.
Writers Maryann and Patti
are authors who create a
main character based
on a spirit they know
dwells in their old art studio.
Battling the natural world
of early America as an
immigrant from Ireland,
a crusader for Christ, a
Christian man who lives
every day for God,
on a quest to live as a
free man in a different
land, Jonathan
endures the loss of his
parents due to the
potato famine in Ireland
during his early years,
the immigration to
America with an abusive uncle,
escaping to freedom
while protecting his only living relative,
his sister Joan,
her ultimate death in childbirth,
his blindness and old age
with his dog, his lovely wife
Daighre and adopted African
American son Elon by his side
The purpose of the poem
is to reveal the narrative
events of The Passing Light,
a novel about faith
and hope during despair
based on the survival for
life by authors as
they find ways to
fight abuse in the
20th century and Maryann’s
chronic illness called lupus
and Patti’s cancer in the 21st century.
The action of the poem
symbolizes human struggles
spanning three centuries to
communicate the
hopes of the past that
inspire those of us who are
today living during economic hardships.
The Muse of Calliope
illustrates the pain and
sorrow of Jonathan
as he lost Joan to an early
death but bears the pain
only to become blind due
to starvation when
he was a child in
Ireland during the
Potato Famine of the 19th century.
Eighteen Forty-five, cries of fear of death
Real loss of life and loved ones as we lost
our potato crop and kin, starvation
came by day and night. Ireland lost one
million of us. Famine did not care who we were.
The fire held her hand tightly;
Guardian angels brought her light,
And made her future days bright ‘til
Her body failed to breathe during
The childbirth that she prayed for but
Such woes grieve Jonathan; his sword
Died with Joan on a blissful day
yet the trees sway and the wind blows
She dies while the wind blows softly
Her death brings the ancestors
Who cry as well
We cry for all our loved ones
Death brings life again as renewed
spirits walk the earth
Jonathan’s eyes stop working
His strife will end with death as well
But animals prevail on the earth as friends
of humans who care
Deeply and who take care for the world
poverty
can be and shall be crushed
by the Glory of God and those who love.
The Irish, Jonathan and his sister Joan
who flee Ireland during the Potato Famine
build a new life in America
with the aid of Native Americans,
African Americans, Latinos, Latinas,
and other immigrants.
Set in the twenty first century
and told by a Polish Jewish Archeologist
who finds a diary,
The Passing Light tells the story of the 18th 19th and 20th
century resilience, courage and faith.
When Jonathan becomes blind,
he learns to live again with the help of his companion dog,
with the miracle of the first service dog as the
guide to the human master.
Eventually, Jonathan marries but his sister
Joan dies in childbirth. As the baby grows,
Lily as the adopted daughter of Jonathan will marry a former slave.
Harshly bruised by the loss of his real family,
through marriage to a white woman,
an African American former slave heals a community
and the immigrants who dwell with fear of poverty
by his generosity and community spirit.
poverty
can be and shall be crushed
by the Glory of God and those who love.
Hear the sound of the whistle
as the train passes by with
Social justice as a paradigm
for the novel resounds
with tension and resolution dependent
upon the silent resilience of the individual.
Equally, hopes and dreams of those
who came to American save her from
corruption and disruption
by evil forces of humans
who only seek materialism.
But with the understanding of the pain
of poverty and the building of
community sharing and compassion,
the face of poverty is finally crushed
by the love of members of communities
who believe that life is life,
love is all that truly exists,
and service to others is the answer to life on earth.
Love is the center of existence.
Eating Roots
By Maryann DiEdwardo
Writing, an art,
is a necessary endeavor natural for the growth of human intelligence.
The artistic creative part of each individual must be nurtured as a
natural course of education.
Art can be taught to the young child as is reading and mathematics. Ideally, art should be sighted as just
as vital a subject for development of life skills. Poetry is art.
I learned to create from the inspiration of my father who survived World
War 2. In the March of Death, he ate the roots of trees to stay alive. And so I
am.
Discussions by
Maryann
The difference is, however, that the poet's labor of the poem, has the
power to restore us, to reset the balance.
Art is true to life.
Fine Art is a Doorway to Learning
Writing between Rivers by Maryann DiEdwardo
Rivers. Peace, Inner
silence.
Rivers. Love.
Inner hope. Echoes God.
Rivers. Faith. Inner trust.
Echoes God.
Rivers. Let go
of ego. Come into God.
Rivers. Come to peace. Welcome God.
Rivers. Soften Hearts. Prepare for God. Holy Rivers.
Rivers flow. In my heart. In
my soul. God’s Rivers.
Rivers will be here long
after I pass away. Rivers are
spiritual. Work by rivers. Write by rivers.
Myth
By Maryann
DiEdwardo
Utilize myth as literature. The quest
myth translates to the definition of the quest of the artist within the reality
of the creative process.
Poetry is where
the definite and the indefinite become combined to create story based upon
legend within the writer and the topic as well as myth as theoretical basis for
writing and creative thought.
The human
community defines order with friendship and love as the story represents the
reader’s dreams of perfect life dream.
Themes by maryann
The theme
connection in the two works of art centers upon use of love as a
treasure for
the writer to hold to but an item that can be lost.
art in this manner has purpose to show the
reader the
inner state of the lover.
Consequently, language means love and also acts
as a clear
metaphor
Rob Thomas, a song writer and musician, and William
Shakespeare, a
literary
figure of merit, both use language as metaphor to show the relationship of
the lover
and the loved.
They use rhymed and metered language to fit words into
patterns to
portray the longing and powerful inner state of the lover.
Ending
By Maryann
The
land between rivers
emerged
as a template
and
voice to tell a story that carries hope.
I
came to know poverty during the twentieth century.
My
father experienced her during the Black March in Eastern Europe
and
my mother found her in the confines of a childhood in the coal regions
Share
your plenty with others so you engage in
peaceful
acts to bridge poverty through contentedness
and
art based upon the rivers
