Solace through=20 poetry

Illinois = Poet Laureate=20 and Bradley English professor Kevin Stein touched hearts as he read the = poem he=20 wrote exclusively to honor Gold Star Mothers who have lost a child in = service to=20 our country at the 73rd annual ceremony in Chicago. Kevin Stein recites his poem = "To=20 Illinois=92s Gold Star Mothers, Who Lost a Child in Service of=20 Country."

When Illinois = Poet=20 Laureate Kevin Stein was asked by Gov. Pat Quinn to read an appropriate = poem at=20 the Gold Star Mother=92s Day ceremony on September 27, the Bradley = English=20 professor gave himself an assignment: create an original poem for the = solemn=20 event.

Stein decided = early on=20 that no existing poem, not even the famous World War I poem, =93In = Flanders=20 Fields=94 by Lt. Col. John McCrae, seemed to fit the occasion or the = audience.=20 Gold Star Mother=92s Day ceremonies honor mothers who have lost children = in=20 service to the nation and are held annually throughout the country on = the last=20 Saturday of September.

A prolific = poet,=20 editor, and critic, Stein eventually found this self-assigned task a bit = daunting. =93To be honest, writing this poem, =91To Illinois=92s = Gold Star=20 Mothers, Who Lost a Child in Service of Country,=92 is perhaps the most=20 challenging writing assignment I=92ve ever taken = on.=94

Intent on = offering his=20 personal version of solace through poetry, and following a few failed = starts,=20 Stein decided the audience he was most interested in serving = =97 and=20 honoring =97 was the Gold Star Mothers themselves. =93More = intimately than any=20 others, they understand the nature of sacrifice and loss =97 no matter = the=20 politics or whatever. My sense was to raise the nation of mothers = above all=20 others. That's why I designed the poem in the form of a poetic = apostrophe=20 addressed directly to them. And though not rhymed, the poem makes use of = the=20 traditional poetic gesture of anaphora =97 the repetition of a = phrase for=20 effect.=94

Stein worked = on the=20 poem nearly every day for three months. =93It was always on the horizon = of my=20 attention, waving me onward.=94 After composing more than 30 drafts, = Stein admits=20 to revising the poem onstage prior to the = ceremony.

With a desire = to avoid=20 politics, steer clear of ethical disputes regarding war, and beware of = overt=20 patriotism, Stein instead chose to focus on =93the living child, on the = maternal=20 realities that deepened the relationship with that child, and to honor = the ways=20 mothers know of that human experience more richly and more lastingly = than=20 others.=94 He relied on his wife=92s motherly insights as he read the = poem to her=20 numerous times. Stein also chose to =93not churn up the boundless and = unassuageable loss=94 these mothers were=20 grieving.

Addressing the=20 audience of more than 300, Stein resolved to look as many of the mothers = in the=20 eye as possible. Their grief was fresh. =93To say the emotions at work = were=20 powerful is to make the proverbial understatement. A few had lost a = child in the=20 last month.=94 Witnessing each of the 27 mothers come to the stage to = receive a=20 banner from the governor was an emotionally wrenching experience. Many a = mother=20 wore a white t-shirt bearing a photo of her child.

Following the = ceremony,=20 several mothers and families shared with Stein that his poem moved them. = =93In=20 many ways,=94 reflects Stein, =93I felt like I contributed. I was told I = had reached=20 hearts.=94

At the = request of Gov.=20 Quinn, a copy of =93To Illinois=92s Gold Star Mothers, Who Lost a Child = in Service=20 to Country=94 will soon hang in the statehouse. Illinois has honored American Gold = Star=20 mothers annually following a Presidential Proclamation in 1936. Although = the=20 American Gold Star Mothers Inc. national organization was formally = established=20 on June 4, 1928, the group=92s roots are traced back to World War=20 I.