Act of Power Press
Mariposa, Opioid Abatement Poems
Laverne Zabielski
This heart-wrenching collection tells two parallel stories. The descent of a beloved adult daughter into heroin addiction and homelessness, and the mother’s journey toward a heroic self-discipline: keeping to herself the questions she’s burning to ask, refusing to impose her own opinions on her daughter. She treats her, even in her worst moments, with a radical respect.
Advance Praise
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In this lean, luminous, heart-wrenching collection, Laverne Zabielski tells two parallel stories, one harrowing, the other quietly hopeful. One is the descent of a beloved adult daughter into heroin addiction and homelessness, along with her mother’s grief that threatens to shade into despair. The other story is the mother’s journey toward a heroic self-discipline: keeping to herself the questions she’s burning to ask, refusing to impose her own desires and opinions on her daughter. She treats her, even in her worst moments, with a radical respect. The mother’s salvation, to the extent that it comes, is in the making of art: beautiful creations of hand-dyed silk and, by the way, this book. Mariposa is more than an urgent call to action in the opioid crisis ravaging our communities. It’s an act of self-deliverance, a survival guide that will shine like a beacon in the hearts of desperate parents everywhere who fight to stay whole in the face of this silent epidemic of pain in our midst.
—Kevin Nance, author of Even If and Midnight
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Mariposa: Opioid Abatement Poems is a heartbreaking account of a mother watching her daughter's retreat into drug use and homelessness. We get a privileged, albeit uneasy look into the powerlessness, despair and incessant roller coaster of agony and hope. “Perhaps that is all there is to do / in the age of not knowing. / Make art.” That “magic of making” rescues the mother and provides moments of peace, as well as the strength to walk “side-by-side yet far apart” with her daughter and witness her decisions. I am grateful for your book, Laverne. “This love letter you have left me has been well received.”
—Katerina Stoykova, author of Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House
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Beneath this unflinching story of rage, devotion, helplessness, and agency is an indictment of a late capitalist American political economy that has overtaken and trapped countless families within systemic social problems of unemployment, drug addiction, homelessness, and related ails of jilted and betrayed working classes. Mariposa is a personal and political account of a mother’s experiences with the opioid addiction of her beautiful beloved daughter. Laverne Zabielski conveys the depths of anguish, confusion, hope, and so often, outright defeat she and her daughter encounter separately and together on their journey. Her subtle and tender words tell glaring and ugly truths. Moments of sorrow and resignation exist alongside moments of joy, affection, humor, and forgiveness.
—Julianne Unsel, Ph.D., editor of Coming of Age
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This powerful story is a journey whose destination is unknown. Laverne Zabielski carries the reader skillfully along with her whether in a car as she drives the streets watching her daughter from afar in a food line or searching for donated clothes. We hear the authentic voice of a woman not afraid to tell the truth about the gritty life of those who live unhoused on streets, invisible and ignored by many of us. Zabielski threads her fears and hopes in this collection of love poems like the wearable art she creates from silk steeped in color. Vivid descriptions of roadblocks with agencies for assistance bear down on both women showing the truth that prevents healing. Through her eyes, we see her daughter’s battle with opioid addiction. Beautiful objects appear as artistic guideposts—a red teapot, a white embroidered pillow, a handmade Mother’s Day card—to remind us of the many things given, taken and left behind when we walk this path with a loved one. Zabielski’s beloved daughter flutters in and out of her sight like a butterfly too fragile to touch or hold at times. In Mariposa: Opioid Abatement Poems, this mother’s love, bravery, wisdom and steadfastness lift us to a sacred space where she and her daughter may one day reunite.
—Shelda Hale’s recent work appears in Coming of Age and The Last Stanza Poetry Journal
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In Mariposa: Opioid Abatement Poems, multi-genre artist Laverne Zabielski has pulled the veil aside to give us a glimpse inside the pain and struggle of addiction. The Mariposa poems are powerful and a beautiful tribute to the poet’s daughter as she moves dangerously through her day-to-day life on the streets. This shared journey—one no mother would ever choose to take with her child—is a story of love, courage, and family. It’s also a story about the possibility of art, in its many forms, though not about art’s ability to heal or provide tidy answers for our lives. Zabielski’s art sustains her through what most of us believe we cannot possibly sustain and certainly are powerless to control. Mariposa, Opioid Abatement Poems is a potent testament but also a mighty prayer.
—Kathleen Driskell author of The Vine Temple and Next Door to the Dead
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To the reader: If you have a loved one who is experiencing an opioid addiction disease, this book is for you. It took me a while to figure out what was happening and when I did, I learned that, first, nobody has the answers and, second, it’s all about money. That meant I had to devise my own strategy and develop my own survival tools. I made rules to help me focus so I could stay in the moment and not let anxiety and fear overtake me: continue to be creative by dyeing silk and designing art to wear; write what was happening with love in my heart for myself and others; strive to communicate with kindness and be respectful. Everyone has an opinion about addiction, and it deserves to be listened to and taken seriously. Ultimately, however, I have to decide what only I can do in my own circumstances. May these poems help you navigate your own challenging journey.
—Laverne Zabielski