Transformation is rarely gentle. It is an experience both familiar and unknown, much like standing at the ocean’s edge. There is a rhythm, a back-and-forth, yet the way forward is often elusive.
In writing “Echoes in the Shatter“, I was drawn to the imagery of waves—breaking, mending, shifting. These movements reflect how change is experienced: not all at once, but in fragments, echoes, and as an ongoing process.
Echoes in the Shatter
The sky wears its mourning in layered hues,
Gray light bruises to black—an endless ruse.
A roar shakes the bones of silence to fray,
Waves weaving blue and black in their sway.
The rocks, jagged, like truths left unsaid,
Pierce through the foam where dreams have bled.
I stand, or am I a shadow here?
The ocean unravels; I disappear.
The wave breaks—
On rock. On air.
A shatter as ancient as time’s decree.
Each fragment a whisper, a truth unbound,
Gray to black, to blue profound.
Am I the storm, or the calm it denies?
A howl that divides, or what division ties?
The wave breaks,
Splinter into shards the tide won’t deny.
The sky wears its mourning in layered hues,
Gray light bruises to black—an endless ruse.
The ocean unravels; all disappears.
The wave breaks—
On rock. On air. On time.
A shatter that hums the horizon’s rhyme.
Finding Meaning in the Layers
“Echoes in the Shatter“ is about transformation, especially when it comes to identity and change. A line that resonates is:
“The sky wears its mourning in layered hues,
Gray light bruises to black—an endless ruse,” it suggests complexity rather than sadness.
The sky reflects how change isn’t just one emotion, but a mix of resistance, adaptation, and release.
The Dual Nature of Challenges
The waves breaking “on rock, on air” show how challenges vary. Some are solid and unmovable, others are subtle but still there. Identity, particularly in the context of disability, is shaped by both struggle and growth (Goodley et al., 2019).
Tension and Reflection
“Am I the storm, or the calm it denies?” explores the balance between action and reflection. The storm is force and upheaval, while the calm invites quiet contemplation. Margaret Price’s “crip spacetime” shows how transformation doesn’t follow a straight line—it’s a messy, non-linear experience (Price, 2024).
Dismantling and Renewal
“The ocean unravels; all disappears” hints at how transformation is both destruction and creation. It’s about making space for what comes next.
“Echoes in the Shatter” reflects on those in-between moments where breaking and becoming meet. The rhythm of the ocean remains steady, but its form keeps changing, just like life.
The echoes of change linger, like the fading sound of waves—a transformation still unfolding. Each wave represents ongoing change. What is broken doesn’t disappear, it shifts and creates space for growth.
Transformation isn’t a one-time thing but a constant process. The past always leaves pieces behind, but they help shape what’s coming next. The power lies in the tension between what is lost and what is found.
To rebuild, destruction is often necessary. Through this, resilience is forged—a reminder that loss makes space for renewal. The poem serves as a reminder that even in loss, there is rebirth, offering the quiet promise that transformation, though difficult, ultimately leads to something new.
References
- Goodley, D., Lawthom, R., Liddiard, K., & Runswick-Cole, K. (2019). Key concerns for critical disability studies. International Journal of Disability and Social Justice, 1(1), 27-49.
- Price, M. (2024). Crip spacetime: Access, failure, and accountability in academic life. Duke University Press.
- Garland-Thomson, R. (2020). Becoming disabled: Narratives of transformation and identity. Oxford University Press.
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