 About the Author:
Anita Blom, born and raised in the Netherlands, is living in Sweden. She worked as an operation manager for the Workers’ Educational Association. She has been a board member, incl chairperson, of stuttering organisations on local, national, European and international level, and an advisory board member of several international stuttering organisations. She was a national and international keynote speaker on stuttering, had her own stuttering consultant company, was one of the Stutter Social hosts, was a project leader of several stuttering projects, and twice Member of the Year. She is an award-winning stuttering activist, acknowledged by Voice Unearthed on the Wall Of Inspiration, Stamma, and many others, nationally and internationally. She was also a leader of national and international camps for children and for young adults who stutter for 30 years. Anita, aka Scatsis, has stuttered since she was 9 and had a troublesome youth because of her stuttering. She went from being silent, to giving stuttering a voice, from pre-school children to the European Parliament, now inspiring people who stutter of all ages, they can make a difference. Do check out her previous papers to the ISAD online conferences. Due to health issues she now has to take it slow, but is still an inspiration to many, especially young people who stutter and those with ME/cfs. Her device, that’s now been used all over the world is “Sure I stutter. What are you good at?”. |
Some words arrive in silver
soft as rain against a pane,
a shimmer at the threshold,
then a sudden, shining name.
Some flare red at the edges,
strike a match against the air;
the mouth holds light a moment,
then releases what was there.
Some are blue, a held-back ocean,
deep with sentences below;
not empty, never absent –
only gathering their flow.
Some flicker gold in quick repeats,
some stretch green, leaf by leaf;
some bloom bright in company,
some darken under grief.
But no shade makes a voice less true,
no pause erases sound;
each color bears a whole self
when patient ears are found.
So let the spectrum speak itself
in tremor, wave, or choice:
the world is wider, warmer,
for every shade of voice.
Welcome to my poem. Let me know in the comments how it resonates with you.
Also have a look at my paper and leave a comment. Great to have you here! 🙂
“But no shade makes a voice less true,
no pause erases sound”
So powerful words in your poem!
Dear Anita!
People who know you, know that you have such a wide range to draw from! I think your poem reaches far beyond stuttering, and embrace communication in life itself!
Thank you so much for sharing it!
Best wishes from Hilda
I really loved how this poem used colors to represent different ways of communicating. My favorite part was “no shade makes a voice less true, no pause erases sound.” It reminded me that everyone deserves to feel heard and confident in their voice, regardless of how fluent their speech is.