Summary

"The Calm Place" is a reflective poem by Jenny Justice exploring the struggle to find and maintain inner peace amidst life's distractions and pains.

Abstract

The poem "The Calm Place" by Jenny Justice delves into the elusive nature of tranquility, describing the poet's continuous effort to reach a state of calm despite the constant interruptions of life's demands. Justice acknowledges the difficulty of staying in this peaceful state, likening it to a mirage or hallucination that is sought after but hard to hold onto. The poem conveys a cycle of seeking, briefly finding, and then losing the calm place due to external disturbances or internal turmoil. It suggests that while achieving peace is challenging, it is accessible through simple acts like meditation and mindfulness. The poet emphasizes that even though one may not remain in a state of calm indefinitely, it is possible to carry a piece of that tranquility back into the chaos of daily life.

Opinions

The poet expresses skepticism about the permanence of inner peace, viewing it as transient and hard to sustain.
There is a recognition of the various stressors and pains that can disrupt one's quest for calm.
The poem suggests that the act of seeking peace can be exhausting, involving a swirl of thoughts and emotions.
Justice implies that external help, such as a friend's advice or a video about trauma and meditation, can be beneficial in finding calm.
The poet advocates for a detached observation of one's thoughts and feelings, rather than being swept away by them.
There is an opinion that people tend to overcomplicate the process of finding peace, when in fact, it could be as simple as walking into a calm space and sitting down.
The poem conveys a hopeful message that it is possible to take something of the calm place with us, serving as a reminder of its existence and our ability to achieve it.
The poet reflects on personal resilience, acknowledging the survival of past hardships as a testament to the strength needed to return to a state of calm repeatedly.

The Calm Place

A Poem

for Art Man, Michael Casperson, Christina Ward 👻, Heidi Franklin, Ryan Fan, Scott Brazieal and Ann E. Jones

I am back and forth to the calm place I cannot stay there long,

cannot rest, cannot sit down, put my feet up have a coffee, cannot believe in it fully; it is like a mirage or hallucination

I find it, I want it, I strive for it, and yet, often, as soon as I get there, I have to leave again.

Something calls, something intrudes, something hurts, something causes pain,

something demands my attention or distraction, something will not let me hold on to the peace, I reach out, reach out,

I try to avoid sinking — sending texts and pleas and asking for rescue, resource, lift up, prayer, someone

to help me hang on and not slip, my friend sends me a video about trauma, about meditation,

I listen, it says calm down, on repeat, it says I am protected, I sit on the floor, exhausted

after the seeking this calm space all day, after joining in the swirl of my thoughts

like riding a dragon not doing the thing where I sit in a boat perhaps, on a hill perhaps, and watch the dragons fly,

peaceful and calm, we have to sit outside, we have to observe, we cannot ride with the thoughts and pains and imaginings,

we have to find the calm place, it has a door, it has an entrance, but we make it harder than it has to be,

we make it complex, we make it painful — we could just walk in, walk through, sit down, relax,

have a glass of water, close our eyes, meditate, and wait, and wait, and see

how long we can stay here and if we have to leave again, we could, perhaps this time,

practice taking something of that calm space with us as a reminder that we have been there, that it is real

that it does exist, that we have achieved it, that we have been through the worst of things so many times

and that we have survived them all to sit here, eyes closed, trying to exist in the calm place again and again.

Jenny Justice is a poet mom who longs to bring poetry to life in ways that spark empathy, connection, joy, and feeling. She loves writing love poems, climate change awareness poems, poems for kids, and of course, poems about poetry and poets. You can follow her on Medium and at Jenny Justice, Writer. You can follow her poetry at Justice Poetic.

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