Maj Ragain (1940-2018) was a beloved creative writing professor and mentor at 黑料不打烊 for more than 30 years. In addition to his role guiding and inspiring students and poets in the greater Kent community, he also spent roughly a decade leading the Warriors Journey Home Veterans Healing Circle in Northeast Ohio. is a nonprofit organization focused on supporting veterans as they work to heal from 鈥渢he unseen wounds of war and military service.鈥
Ragain wrote the following poem, 鈥淪oldier鈥檚 Heart,鈥 in honor of his experience with Warriors Journey Home.
Soldier鈥檚 Heart
We sing the old wounds,
word by word, stitch by stitch,
many hands, many voices.
The needle hurts as the thread
is drawn through, the mouth
of the wound drawn shut.
Our work is to listen hard,
to look the wounded in the eye,
to stitch and pull
press through pain,
until every knot is tied,
every last wound closed,
every broken heart
healed and whole. 鈥 Maj Ragain
Poem and video courtesy of the Wick Poetry Center and the project. Artwork by David Steckel.
A public reading featuring veteran poets from Warriors Journey Home will take place at 8 p.m. on Nov. 11 at in Kent.