Amy Hollan on ‘Cartography’
Amy Hollan is a writer, visual artist, and creative director of the Southern Tier Center for Emerging Artists, an accessible + affirming online art space and creative community based in the historic Chautauqua Lake region of Western New York. Visit www.amyhollan.com to learn more.
What was the last thing that made you feel hopeful?
Recently my daughter and I adopted a beautiful deaf pit bull mix named Eliza who had been at the local humane society shelter for three years because no one wanted to take on a special needs dog. Eliza is perfectly imperfect and reminds me daily that her shelter caretakers hoped for a better life for her, a hope that was eventually realized. Her constant smiles and kisses remind me love and light is possible, even in these difficult times.
Where did your poetry journey begin?
My earliest poems date back to fifth grade, when I would write stilted, rhyming verses that were dreadful but made my English teacher happy. I would “publish” them in a hand-drawn newspaper and sell copies for a nickel to my parents and the neighbors. My best poems are still emerging from my authentic and vulnerable self that I am discovering, embracing, and unleashing in my 50s.
What is a core theme of ‘Cartography’, and what called you to write about it?
‘Cartography’ is one of twenty poems I wrote from the perspective of a daughter and caregiver to my mother during her time in hospice care before her passing in late 2017. Writing is a way of processing deep emotions, and the poems from this time are as much about life as death and reflect on my own mortality and themes of fear, acceptance, transcendence, grief, loss – and love. They speak to how we find meaning and purpose in every season of life.
Tell us about the experience of writing this poem.
It was an emotional experience to bathe, toilet, and provide intimate care to my mother during her last days of life, particularly when our relationship had always been difficult. In seeing her close-up and discovering the commonalities of our aging bodies, I felt a connection and healing that was not present in our earlier interactions and a fuller appreciation for the scars, wrinkles, freckles, and imperfections that come from our shared journey as women from Maiden to Mother to Crone.
The poem was originally titled ‘Like Mother, Like Daughter.’ Then I read ‘The Art of Death’ by Edwidge Danticat and came across these brilliant lines from Michael Ondaatje’s novel, ‘The English Patient’: “We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swam up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on my body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography.” A new title emerged from these beautiful words.
Where does poetry fit into your life?
There are always half-written poems scribbled in notebooks and on pieces of junk mail. There are hundreds of lines typed out in the notes app on my phone and many more that have disappeared into the ether if they’ve come to me while I’m showering, driving, on a conference call, or as I fall asleep, and I can’t write them down. Words and poems are my constant companions.
What inspires you?
Ordinary things: sunsets over Chautauqua Lake near my Western New York home, coffee and conversation with my daughter Carissa, good books, hiking, Impressionist art, strawberries, Beethoven, the scent of lavender, and anything else that makes my soul feel more alive for having experienced it.
Is there a poem you read over and over again?
‘Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers’ by Emily Dickinson, for its lyrical beauty and how it speaks to my love of cemeteries and photographing memorial art.
Do you have a favourite poet?
I’m enthralled by Emily Dickinson. I first read her work in second grade and fell in love with the sound of her words long before I understood their meaning. She was my first crush and her poems and letters have been a lifelong obsession.
What advice would you give to someone new to poetry?
Steep yourself in beautiful words from a variety of styles and time periods. Find wisdom in Rumi and Rilke. Learn brevity from Basho and Neruda and extravagance from Shelley and Wordsworth. Root yourself in the earth through Walt Whitman, Mary Oliver and Wendell Berry. Experience glimpses of the ordinary in D.H. Lawrence, Stanley Kunitz, Ada Limon and Derek Walcott. Be challenged by Joy Harjo and Amanda Gorman. Seek out contemporary narratives by James Morehead and Morgan Liphart. Learn what makes a poem powerful to you and translate those rhythms and structures and themes to your own work in your own voice.
Why do you write poetry?
Writing poetry is how I show up and pay attention. It is how I notice beauty, heal wounds, and speak truth, and it is as vital as my next breath.
You can read Amy’s poem here.