June 23, 2022
The Gatehouse has launched The Gatehouse Global Poetry Movement at www.globalpoetrymovement.com
We were inspired by the initiative: Global Poem Initiative-“Dear Vaccine” “By articulating our most complex and emotional experiences in language, we harness the ability to transform a common experience into collective meaning.” is directly aligned with The Gatehouse Global Poetry Movement initiative.
Thank you to all volunteers, students, and staff, who helped bring this initiative to life – Carol, Arthur, Katie, Karen, Jasmine, Sabra, Zada, Jenny, Andrea, Stewart, Paula, Ambaram, Eric, Bernie, and Amy. A special thank you to Opal Gamble, for bringing the final site to life.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed art, voice, and poetry to the site already. Please share the website on your social media pages and with your networks.
We are reaching out to people around the planet and inviting their voice, through poetry, to be an integral element of The Gatehouse Global Poetry Movement. Throughout the twenty-four years of history of The Gatehouse, a primary goal has always been to create processes that allow for people to move from isolation to inclusion and to create a collective meaning-making experience.
“My healing is bound to yours.” Alone no one can escape. Together we live to tell.” Excerpt from Parker Palmer’s Poem: Together We Live To Tell
It is our hope that, with your support, this initiative of gathering poetry from around the world, people will no longer feel isolated. That they will feel an authentic connection as their words are linked with the words of other people from around the world. Creating ways that nurture strength, personal and social transformation. In the words of Muriel Rukeyser:
“No one wants to read poetry. You have to make it impossible for them to put the poem down–impossible for them to stop reading it, word after word. You have to keep them from closing the book.” So it is that we are reaching out to you, to make it impossible for people to stop reading, impossible for people to be silenced, and possible to be heard and seen.
The Gatehouse Global Poetry Movement
Vision Statement:
Lifting and uniting survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) out of isolation into a global healing community where transformation begins with our words.
Mission Statement:
Empowering survivors of CSA from around the globe, connecting and healing collectively through poetry.
Objectives:
- To invite collaboration from like-minded individuals and agencies/organizations in creating the poetry process.
- To create a safe and inclusive global community, by acknowledging and fostering transformation from CSA trauma
- To create a dedicated website for The Gatehouse Global Poetry Movement to become a living archival repository of shared experiences of CSA survivor perseverance, resilience, and HOPE.
- To have poems from around the world read on various global platforms.
- To collaborate with people from around the world in generating creative responses to matters of CSA.