Empty Chairs at Empty Tables Poem
Cherished friends
Cherished family
Cherished colleagues
All part of my journey
Then slowly, quietly
Their distance I feel
I try to reconnect
And look for ways to heal
I grasp, I reach
I ask, I listen
But secrets are silenced
From fear of retribution
I feel unsettled
And live with confusion
I sense dismay
But can’t reach a conclusion
I offer to help
My assistance denied
I try to take charge
Every solution decried
And yet I persist
Hoping to be a saviour
But they are blinded by lies
That cause paralysing behaviour
Backwards, forwards
And round about
Then suddenly gone
One final bout
All that is left
Empty chairs
Empty tables
Confused stares
How? Why?
For what possible reason?
There was no need for this
The ultimate treason
I’ll do my best
To change what I can
I’ll speak for the silent
And make a plan
Your memory lives
Inside of me
Never forgotten
Your spirit is free
Every time I choose
To connect and support
I rewrite the narrative
And reduce the rort
As every person
Feels like they belong
I can turn the tide
And correct a wrong
My generation
Can widen the range
Let’s return to the table
On chairs of change
On 3 November 2024, I was contacted by Maddie Midson from the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia asking for permission to use one of my poems in an upcoming project called Empty Chairs at Empty Tables in preparation for the 16 Days of Activism with UN Women.
It is an annual campaign that begins on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs through until International Human Rights Day on 10 December.
Led by civil society, the campaign is supported by the United Nations through the Secretary General’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women initiative.
This specific project provided by Pop In based in Moss Vale New South Wales aims to recognise the lives of women lost to gender-based violence.
Each participant will paint a chair with the support of local artists and art therapists.
The chair painting component started on 24 October 2024 at three locations:
- Bowral – Wednesdays Nov 6th 12noon – 2pm, Nov 13th and Nov 20th – 10am to 12noon
- Hill Top – Tuesdays Nov 5th, Nov 12th, Nov 19th – 10am to 12noon
- Ngununggula Gallery – Thursdays Oct 24th, Oct 31st, Nov 14th and Nov 21st – 10am to 12noon
Once completed, the chairs will be displayed across the Southern Highlands in November and December 2024.
I have several poems related to this theme including Cognitive Dissonance, Domestic Violence and Post Traumatic Growth, but I decided to commission a new poem and write something new for this project.
I have been associated with various women’s initiatives over many years at a community, advocacy and policy level. This poem reflects a variety of the stories I have heard, some of my own lived experience and insights gained from an enormous amount of personal development and healing.
It is definitely time for every community to come together and address these issues in a sustainable way and I sincerely hope that I can see significant change within my lifetime.
I remember being a young child and being aware of ‘family secrets’ and topics that were ‘not discussed.’ Let’s move beyond secrecy and heal everyone involved. With love, Sue Ellson 🙂
Photo is of tables and chairs set up for an event of the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition VIRWC (now Multicultural Women Victoria) Fundraising Dinner on 3 December 2004.
#emptychairsatemptytables #genderbasedviolence #SueEllson #SueEllsonPoem #poem #poetry
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