#436 Backstory of the Poem “Deposition” by George Witte
Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form?
“Deposition” began in the wake of several desecrations of Marian statues in 2020. I write by hand and looking through my notebook I see the poem emerging from a single line—In Mary’s arms the broken body lies—into the form it finally assumed, a modified villanelle. For context, in the weeks before beginning this poem, I had written another one—same form, same general theme—after seeing a photograph of a woman and her children, all killed by a bomb in Ukraine. So the idea of a woman and child being murdered by state authority was on my mind.
Click on the link to read about the desecration of statues of Mary
Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail.
I most often write on the commuter train—either the Bergen Line or the Main Line—that takes me from my home in Ridgewood, New Jersey to Hoboken, where I catch the PATH train to New York. I try to sit in three seaters so there’s the possibility of space between me and another passenger, but often find myself sitting next to someone. I write 37 minutes each way, ideally (though not always) each day, and have found the train to be a neutral space where I can concentrate.
What month and year did you start writing this poem? I don’t have a precise answer but estimate late 2021/early 2022.
Were there any lines in any of your rough drafts of this poem that were not in the final version? And can you share them with us?
My notebook is a mess but here are two:
“it must be washed and wrapped in winding sheets”
“as if alive, still bleeding from disgrace.”
What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem?
I hesitate to assign meaning or takeaway. My hope is that the poem evokes an emotional response and that through imagining the aftermath of one death—the deposition (or removal) of Jesus from the cross, and the careless desecration of a statue that represents that moment—it somehow connects with more immediate experiences of grief and loss.
Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why?
Hard to answer: it’s a short poem, and the emotional experience preceded its writing (namely the photograph of the woman and her children after a bombing in Ukraine and the various desecrations of Marian statues).
Has this poem been published? And if so where?
It was published in the Spring 2024 issue of Consequence, a journal which focuses on literature and art about war and violence.
