Redmond’s poet laureate helps offer hope for victims of Boston bombings

Published 2:32 pm Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Although the Boston Marathon bombings in April were an isolated event, occurring in a single city, the acts of terrorism affected people all around the country.

And Redmond is no different. Jeannine Hall Gailey, the city’s poet laureate, has friends who run in marathons and knew people who participated in this year’s race in Boston.

“It’s a horrible feeling,” she said about knowing how vulnerable people were.

Gailey said after the bombings, she — like a lot of people — wanted to know how she could help. The opportunity for her to do so came to her recently in the form of a poetry anthology called “Like One: Poems For Boston” that features one of her poems.

Editor Deborah Finkelstein said the book is a collection of works from 40 poets and the net proceeds from the sales will go toward The One Fund, which was set up to support the Boston Marathon bombing victims and their families.

Finkelstein said because the event affected so many people all around the country, “like one” community, the anthology features poets from throughout the United States. Although Massachusetts has a fair amount of representation in the anthology, she said poets from other states such as Washington, Texas, Kansas, New York, Oregon, Louisiana, California and New Mexico are also featured. Finkelstein added that there is even one poet who lives in Colorado but is originally from Australia.

Gailey (left) said it makes sense to include poets from all over because the Boston Marathon is such a big event that attracts runners from all over the world.

“We’re all part of one community,” she said.

It has been a little more than three months since the bombings and while the healing process is underway, there is still a long way to go.

“I live in Boston,” Finkelstein said. “It’s very much around me every day.”

She said in addition to offering immediate help to victims, The One Fund has been set up to offer assistance for life. For example, when people who have lost limbs need to replace their prosthetics or other equipment, she said The One Fund will help cover the cost as insurance may not always cover it — the latter being a fact Finkelstein was unaware of and admitted to being very naive about.

She said they hope “Like One” will be part of that assistance and last a long time.

“It’s so rewarding,” Finkelstein said about no longer feeling helpless and using something she loves to help.

In developing the idea for a poetry anthology to help the Boston Marathon bombing victims, she said she also wanted the poems to be positive and uplifting rather than focusing on the bombings themselves. Finkelstein said people are not ready for poems about the events, lost limbs and the like.

Gailey agreed and said she likes that the anthology is lighthearted and focused on being cheerful and uplifting.

“It’s really important to me, instead of feeling powerless … you’re able to give something of comfort,” she said about her involvement in the anthology.Gailey’s poem in “Like One” is called “Female Comic Book Superheroes” and was originally published in her book “Becoming the Villainess” in 2006.

“Jeannine’s poem is so clever,” Finkelstein said. “I really liked it a lot.”

“Like One” is $14.99 and is currently available on Amazon.com and CreateSpace.com. Finkelstein said they are also in the process of talking with bookstores throughout the country to put the book on their shelves.