I have volunteered to write for Poetic Justice: Distant Learning.
Poetic Justice’s mission is to offer restorative writing and creative arts programs to individuals who are incarcerated in women’s prisons and jails.
Our vision is to offer opportunities for healing and growth by holding space to process trauma and rewrite personal narratives to transform the story of incarceration.
Poetic Justice.org
This week’s writing prompt was to write about a favorite room. The prompt involved comparing objects in the room with animals. For me, I wrote about the animals in the room. I read a quote from an article about Ukrainian refugees in National Geographic. The quote became interspersed into my poem. I will send this poem to my writing partner and hope for a response. I haven’t heard from her yet, but I am assured that I should keep writing anyway.
The Living Room
“We don’t need much,” said one refugee Lidiya Ivanenko. “A warm corner is enough.”
A warm corner is enough,
where a red fleece blanket
with holes the dog chewed
covers my bare legs. This warm space
is my respite
from a war-torn world,
from sound of sirens,
from calling chores.The white cat plays in the corner
jumping for elephant ear leaves.
She darts away like lightning
then back in a flash
kneading the blanket
purring, bunting my hand.We don’t need much.
Margaret Simon, draft 2022
We long for safety,
for the warmth of a room
that says you belong here.
Reflections on the Teche 
These two lines are so touching;
“We don’t need much.
We long for safety,”
Can I thank you for the cause you are supporting, ‘Poetic Justice’ and also
for writing anyway?
What a touching poem.
Thanks for this. Margaret- a slice of peace in war-torn world.
My heart breaks every time I read something about this poor country. Your poem is beautiful.
Margaret, your poem is touching and even holds your one word, enough. I think of the families who do not have enough today and pray for their safety.
I love the title, “The Living Room.” We all need living room, even Charlie. Especially all the refugees in Ukraine and around the world. Please, God, even a warm corner…
We don’t need much, but oh this stuff is the essence. A place of safety, we know we belong. Beautiful and heart wrenching when you add in the quote. I
[…] been thinking about writing about a room since I read Margaret Simon’s “The Living Room” post. Today I spent the end of the day in a this favorite […]