Synkroniciti is delighted to welcome writer (and musician) Naomi Bindman from Vermont. Her beautifully-crafted visual poem, “heart space,” explores the grieving process. Taking the shape of three folded or half hearts, Naomi shows us how varied and special our representations of the heart are, mirroring grief, which is as deep as the unique shape and music that the departed made in our life. “Each groove a/deep V pointing to some/ thing hidden/ with/ in.” The breaks (sometimes splitting words) and groupings that form the half hearts are powerful. We have the sense that some feelings are rushing forward while others break up, just as the human response to grief distorts and breaks up our sense of time. We look for synchronicities and find them in simple, sometimes even banal places like paper hearts or rocks. And we are comforted. The empty space is not filled, but love is exposed. Visually and linguistically, Naomi’s imagery is both delicate and strong, full of a vulnerability that sings.
Experience “heart space” in Synkroniciti’s November 30th issue, “Space,” Vol. 5, No. 4, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Naomi Bindman’s articles, essays, and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in anthologies and journals including Mothering, So to Speak, Friends Journal, Consilience, Import Sky, Honeyguide, First Literary Review—East, South Florida Poetry Journal, and Lightwood Magazine. She was a finalist in the 2023 Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Contest, and won the 2023 Creative Nonfiction Award from Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose. Naomi has received grants from the Vermont Arts Council, taught memoir-writing workshops funded by the Vermont Humanities Council, and is on the faculty of the Vermont State Colleges. Her memoir, You’re the Words I Sing tells the story of Naomi’s journey back to life performing the songs of her daughter, Ellen, who lost her life in a car crash at seventeen.