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Kintsukuroi | Astra

IPM Team
Aug 15
1 min read

A photo of a blue bowl that has been broken and repaired with gold. The bowl is in the upper right hand corner of the image and the res of the image is solid dark blue. Overlaid is a poem by Astra titled "Kintsukuroi" with the subheading "Kintsukuroi (n): "to repair with gold"; the Japanese art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer". The poem reads: We are all made / Out of star shine and clay-- / Here on this Earth / But still connected to the stars; / Lost in our thoughts / And forgetting our hearts // Here on this bridge / Between Darkness and Light, / My one hand holding tight / To dreams that will never come true, / The other hand holding onto New Life-- / Freedom that I am terrified / To embrace, / Heart cracking wide open / In the process / And in that cracking / I am creating something new. // Won't you celebrate with me / What I have shaped / Into a kind of life? / Heartache into Strength / Trauma into lessons learned / So that I never repeat these cycles / Again / Never break this heart again; / These cracks repaired with gold. // Here on this bridge / What did I see? / What did I see in the waves below, / Reflected back in my tears? / To be anything / Anything / Except for myself / Will surely kill me / Where everything else has failed. // Here on this bridge / Hands over my heart / My one hand holding tight / To my other hand/ I am choosing. / I am releasing. / I am remembering / Myself // "The wound is the place where / the light enters you." / And I am moving back / towards that Light. / I am a child / Of starshine and clay. / Stronger now. / And more beautiful / Where I once was broken.

If a line or phrase resonates with you,

we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem.

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This poem was included in IPM's August 2025 Newsletter.

Access the full Newsletter here.

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