The Journey from Cocoon to Cosmos 

The Journey from Cocoon to Cosmos 

By Lyn Patterson

As humans, we are inspired by stories of change and metamorphosis. There’s no greater symbol of this than the lowly, crawling caterpillar that evolves into the majestic, soaring butterfly. But, to me, the most important part of the story happens during the in-between, quiescent, transformative stage. Oftentimes, when we experience these all-important growth stages, we don’t have the right words to move through them. Many of us stay silent, which can cause us to suffer alone. The most compelling storytellers capture these pivotal points when we are broken down to our primordial state and on the cusp of personal revolutions.  

Three years ago, I decided to no longer suffer alone, so I stepped out of my cocoon and started a poetry blog. As I spewed my rage into the ether, something magical happened. People started to pay attention. They began reaching out to tell me how my words impacted them, how I helped them to process a difficult situation or how my words made them feel less alone. As a result of the community that developed around my work, I was able to publish my first collection of poetry with a small publisher. This experience taught me that there is power in our collective voice and we can create communities of care through shared stories. My favorite poet, Audre Lorde, once said, “Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity for our existence.” Through seeing my words impact others, I learned that poetry has the power to move people’s hearts and minds, and thus, it is necessary.  

My goal as an author is always to tell necessary stories of Black femininity, unapologetically, with both nuance and simplicity. For far too long, mainstream black storytelling of Black women has centered around the narrative of struggle and resistance. But while these aspects of Black culture have become salient parts of my identity, woven through my family history, it becomes most interesting when readers are able to see how my identity impacts real human experiences, we all relate to. We all want to read books where our heroines fall in love, get their hearts broken, persevere through failure, and stand against evil. We all deserve heroines we can see ourselves in.  

In working towards my goal of creating such works of art, I began piecing together the poems of my next book The Postcards I Never Sent, when I began traveling full time. As I bounced from place to place, sleeping on friends’ couches, I was able to capture the gradations and peculiarities of everyday life.  As I adventured, I observed people intently, tracked my ancestry, collecting family folklore along the way, and witnessed breath-taking landscapes. I wrote those poems either as fragments jotted urgently in my travel journal or as free writes scribbled on napkin scraps. 

Even as I read them now, these poems bleed and breathe because I was breaking down and expanding simultaneously. I was a Black woman coming of age in America, yearning to be wild and liberated, while attempting to place myself in space and time. I looked for books that would give me solace along my journey. But tales of transformation about a thirty something year old, nearly divorced, self-proclaimed wild woman, who fits in everywhere and nowhere, were hard to find. Black women in particular don’t often find these adventurous, coming of age stories set in the American writer’s landscape. So, I set out to capture my story in honor of my friends, my aunties, my mother, my grandmother, and for the daughters of the future to remember us by. Because truly great narratives connect people in the past, present, and future. 

When I think about stories of transformation and revolution, I am reminded that we are all connected to a greater collective memory, which brings me back to my favorite symbol, the butterfly. After an astonishing metamorphosis, newly-winged Monarch butterflies miraculously begin a migration cycle from the North to the South, one that spans five to six generations of butterflies. No one truly understands how they know to migrate every fall, but the dutiful children of previous generations continue the migration, completing their life cycle before reaching the final destination. They do this because they belong to one another, just as humans do. Please never forget that our stories have the power to guide us as we persevere through our own metamorphoses, while also reminding us of our divine connections to something bigger.

“If the truth can break it,

then let it crumble.

 

If the truth can start a fire,

then let it burn.

 

If the truth makes it rain,

then let it pour.

 

If the truth gives you freedom,

then start a war.”

 

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Bio: 

Lyn Patterson is a storyteller, poet, print maker, and book currently residing in Oakland, CA. She is a deeply invigorated poet who is specifically inspired to write about Black diaspora and those who have been marginalized in our society, as a means of empowering future generations with their stories. Her latest collection “The Postcards I Never Sent,” is available for preorder.

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing