Last year I had some foot problems: I developed a neuroma, and then I tore my plantar plate. Every day, I taped two toes together to provide support, relieve pain, and promote healing. I hadn’t thought of this “buddy taping” as a metaphor for human compassion. I also didn’t appreciate the overall significance of our feet until I read today’s ode to them.
About Standing (in Kinship)
We all have the same little bones in our foot
twenty-six with funny names like navicular.
Together they build something strong—
our foot arch a pyramid holding us up.
The bones don’t get casts when they break.
We tape them—one phalange to its neighbor for support.
(Other things like sorrow work that way, too—
find healing in the leaning, the closeness.)
Our feet have one quarter of all the bones in our body.
Maybe we should give more honor to feet
and to all those tiny but blessed cogs in the world—
communities, the forgotten architecture of friendship.
Kimberly Blaeser
Kimberly Blaeser is an Anishinaabe activist and environmentalist from White Earth Reservation and the former Wisconsin poet laureate. She teaches English and Indigenous Studies at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Writing prompts:*
- Blaeser writes, “Maybe we should give more honor to feet.” Is there somthing in yourself you have not honored or acknowledged? How might showing appreciation for this aspect of yourself impact your relationship to/with others? Start writing with: “Maybe I should give more honor to…” and see where it takes you.
- Think of the many colloquial expressions we have about feet — get on your feet; take a stand; put one foot in front of the other; one step at a time, etc. Choose one and write about how it might point to an underlying understanding of the importance of our feet.
Sources:
“About Standing (in Kinship)” by Kimberly Blaeser from Poetry (March 2021) Copyrighted material used for educational or therapeutic purposes.
Photo: dreamstime.com
*Many thanks to Jackie Costello, my amazing prompt-writing friend and fellow poetry therapy practitioner, for her help with the above prompts. 🙂
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Absolutely love this Patti! Have just come back from a weekend in Scotland at an event “Unleash your Braveheart” listening to many inspirational women telling their stories – and to come home and read this … perfect! Sending love and healing thoughts to you and hope to catch up with you soon ❤️Px
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Wow, Paula. What an interesting event! Glad the poem resonated and good to hear from you. Love to you and the family. Happy Thanksgiving! xo, Patti
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