Chella Courington’s chapbook, Hearts Forged in Resistance, is available for preorder now from Finishing Line Press, and I highly recommend ordering it. I have long been a fan of Courington’s work for the power of its language and imagery. This collection does not disappoint. It was written in reaction to the war in Ukraine. When I contacted her, I asked her about the relationship of her title and her work’s theme, and she wrote, ‘At the time of entitling the collection, I was thinking about Ukraine and the heartfelt, strong way in which Ukrainians met life-threatening adversity. How they forged their passion for freedom and for their citizens into resistance where friction transforms feeling.’ This idea runs through the work; however, her work goes beyond this as she meditates on how resistance in people’s personal lives creates richness in their perspectives and humanity.
The title of the collection comes from a line from her poem, ‘Strength,’ and that is where the theme of the work grows out of:
7000 miles away tanks roll across Ukrainian borders
trying to wipe them off the map
grandmothers aunts fathers sons
throw their bodies against bully armor
hearts forged in resistance
The poet takes to heart the courage of those people she sees in the news not giving into Putin or his forces. This is a powerful moment for her and all of us who have watched the war. Many of course assumed that Russia would simply be too powerful, and it is surprising to see the strength of the resistance including in Zelensky’s response. She writes in another poem, ‘Zelensky takes off his suit puts on battle fatigues / stands in the streets talks with his troops.’ As the title suggests, it is the courage in resistance that creates character in the poet’s eyes.
However, this collection is not simply about the war in Ukraine; it leads her to a larger meditation about the idea of dignity put to the test with pressure, how it has affected many of the people she has known and loved. In ‘Grief,’ she develops a vision of her father. This once powerful man who worked in steel plants is now old and weakened, and he misses his wife who has passed away.
. . . [His shoulders] began to sag after my mom fell
no moon out and died while he slept My dad saved the hair
from her brush wrapped in Kleenex stored in a wooden box
beside their bed Every night he rubs strands against his cheek.
Through his loss of power and the loss of his wife, he has transformed from someone who once was merely strong to someone with a complex emotional life with compassion and love at its root. Throughout the collection we are given examples of how people react to the worst kind of pain. We are shown strength in its various ways.
Hearts Forged in Resistance is a necessary book as we face new challenges. Of course, to be alive means facing pain and difficulties. Courington’s collection reminds me of Viktor Frankl’s idea of what it means to be worthy of one’s pain. Pain, if confronted correctly, can help us to see the more noble elements of our humanity. It can clarify what is beautiful inside of us.
John Brantingham 21st August 2023
