FreshView | The Gathering Place - Part 19

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The Writing Group

“No”

My best friend and I once wrote a poem in the month of November when we were teenagers. It went something like this: No-vember No – leaves No – sun No – money No – fun No – parties No – presents No – dates No – men No-vember “No” can be a […]

February 19, 2016 by FreshView

The Writing Group

Nesting Poems

Herman is a nudist He used to be a Buddhist No one can compare to his tassels and hair It’s said the best colonies are North of our border less regulations and less order. Now Herman has a home where he can freely roam and see creatures in wild all around his home From […]

February 19, 2016 by FreshView

The Writing Group

It was a Dark and Stormy

It was a dark and stormy night but I had hope that the light would come out. After every storm there comes a calm. After every darkness comes the light. After every night comes the morning. Out of every joy comes a fear. Fear is part of being human. Fear can be conquered through love. […]

February 19, 2016 by FreshView

The Writing Group

It was a Dark and Stormy …….

It was a dark and stormy Christmas Eve. The children were all in jammies and ready for bed, imagining what dear old St. Nick would bring. Of course the adults were worried about the travelling conditions for family and friends making their way to the Lynch household. Now I don’t know if you believe in […]

February 19, 2016 by FreshView

The Writing Group

The “Wrong” in Society

There are many wrongs and many rights in society. I would have to say that one topic that comes to mind would be “The Homeless”. I feel that society in general have their own opinions about the homeless but many of their opinions, although they could possibly be found among the homeless, are in fact […]

February 19, 2016 by FreshView

The Writing Group: Foreword

The people who contributed to this collection of pictures, poetry and prose range roughly in age from thirty to eighty. Some live or have lived in the Tedford Shelter or in their cars or in tents in the woods; some live in subsidized housing. Some are unemployed; some live on disability checks; some have part time or seasonal jobs; others are retired.

What we all have in common is The Gathering Place at 5 Tenney Way, Brunswick, which is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for coffee, snacks, companionship, cards, puzzles and on Thursday afternoons for writing.

Over the past four years, I’ve hosted anywhere from one to a dozen writers who have shared stories, laughed (a lot), and cried (a little). I usually throw out a general topic—the first, as I recall, was “Scars,” and the latest, as I write this, was “Doors I have Walked Through--- although people can (and do) write about anything that is on their minds. Some of the topics I’ve given will be self-evident as you read; other topics won’t matter: what’s important is the response. Some of the pieces have been edited from grammar and spelling, but we’ve tried to maintain the original voice and content.

When we first began writing four years ago, some people thought we were having an English class, so they moved as far away from our table as they could; when we began sharing what we’d written, however, they can back, at first to listen, and then over the next few weeks, to join us.

Why? For many of us, writing is a way to make sense of the world, especially when our minds are looping around a particular problem. What I’ve also learned is that all of us need to be heard—listened to, respected—especially if we’ve fallen on hard times and feel that no one care anymore.

What else have I learned over the past four years? Probably the most important thing is that despite common stereotypes, homelessness and poverty have many faces, many voices and that both homelessness and poverty go far beyond not having a physical place to live or a specific job to get to. “Homeless” might mean losing a job that has given you an identity for twenty years, losing a spouse, a child or a friend, losing your health. “Poverty” may mean any number of spiritual or emotional deprivations.

Someone once said that going into The Gathering Place, he couldn’t tell who was a volunteer and who was a client. Four years of writing and listening to stories have shown me that’s because there really isn’t that much of a difference between any of us.

--Rick Wile
Writing Group
The Gathering Place