after crossing the finish line,
we keep on running—
joy, the reason to run
Archive for September, 2016
One More Step
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged joy, poem, poetry, running on September 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The Grand Embrace: Writing and Relaxing Into Not Knowingness: A Meditation and Poetry Retreat
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged meditation retreat, poem, poetry, Rosemerry Wahtola Tromer, Susie Harrington, writing retreat on September 9, 2016| 6 Comments »
Friday, September 30 to Sunday, October 2, 2016
La Sal, Utah
We live in a culture that wants to know—we chart and graph and test and outline. We codify and classify and name. But what do we really know? What is all this messiness and mystery that breeds underneath our longing for orderliness and certainty? What would happen if we could really rest in uncertainty? How deep might that relaxation go? How much more open might our lives be if we made friends with letting go?
We’ll read poems that don’t bring answers, poems that lead us deeper into paradox. We’ll sit in the midst of the not-knowing, sit with our joys, our challenges, the what is here of each moment. We’ll write our own explorations of what if and what else and see what even a small bit of wonder might do … if you’re willing to risk a little, meditation and writing can open doors where before you didn’t even realize a door existed. Spiritual doors. Healing doors. Doors where there used to be walls.
No previous writing experience required. No previous meditation experience required. This poetry and meditation weekend is for anyone who is curious about weaving spiritual awakening and the creative poetic impulse.
For more information and to register please visit desertdharma.org
Cost (includes room and board): Sliding scale $170-220 plus donation to the teachers
Scholarships and partial work trade available
Susie Harrington teaches internationally and in the Southwest near her home in Moab, Utah. Her roots are in the Insight tradition, where she continues to train with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and others. Her teaching is deeply grounded in the body and often emphasizes the expression of mindfulness in speech and daily life. Susie brings the skills of inquiry, relational dharma, and the psychological/spiritual interface from her training in Hakomi Therapy and the Diamond Approach. Believing nature to be a profound teacher, and a gateway to freedom, she often offers retreats outside.
Western Slope Poet Laureate Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s poetry has appeared in O Magazine, in back alleys, on A Prairie Home Companion and in her children’s lunch boxes. Her most recent collection is The Less I Hold. She’s won the Fischer Prize, Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, the Dwell Press Solstice Prize, the Writer’s Studio Literary Contest, was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award, and has been nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize. She is known for her inclusive, intimate, warm teaching style. Favorite one-word mantra: Adjust.
How Many Hawks Have I Missed
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged attention, hawk, poem, poetry on September 9, 2016| 3 Comments »
But not this one,
its pale under wings
flapping and gliding, soaring
on the updraft,
the rise of it, oh,
the surprise of its shape.
How easily the world
rewards our attention,
how easily I
lose track.
Destination
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged path, poem, poetry on September 9, 2016| 1 Comment »
Leaping off the train
not sure where I’m going
but certain no tracks
will get me there.
In the field
every step a new step.
The Art of Less
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Art, ekphrasis, Jill Sabella, poem, poetry, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Telluride Art Walk, three lines on September 8, 2016| 2 Comments »
October 6
Art Opening: In Three Lines
Telluride, CO
81435 Gallery, 6-9 p.m.
For two years I have been collaborating with artist Jill Sabella, experimenting with simplicity—a leaning toward less and the more that blossoms out of it. We took turns sending each other work to respond to. The result: 45 intimate pairings, in which three-line drawings and three-line poems reflect each other. Some are framed individually and others framed in conversations of three. Our vision: Elegant. Provocative. Inviting. Poignant. The artwork began with charcoal thoughts, and later the same drawings were done on rice paper with Sumi ink and brush.
In addition to the framed artwork, the pairings have been made into a book, even now (Lithic Press, 2016), which will be available in just a few weeks!
The pieces will be for sale in the gallery. If you are curious about purchasing a piece but are not able to make the show, I will help you see the images to make your selection. Single pieces are $250 and triptychs are $800. The show will be up until the first week of December. For more information, contact Molly Perault, 728-3930 or molly@Telluride Arts.org or Rosemerry at 970-729-1838, rosemerry@wordwoman.com
What Vincent Knew
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged beauty, poem, poetry, sunflowers on September 7, 2016| 5 Comments »
I like to gossip with the sunflowers—
about who is holding their head up high
and who is nodding off. We are generous,
of course, and note it’s hard
to hold up your head all day.
So tiresome, a few of them grumble,
this showing up, this relentless drive
to meet the sun every morning, the weight
of all this outward cheerfulness. Yes, I say,
and hum as I pull the yellowed leaves
off the bottom of their stalks. What is dead
crumbles easily in my hands. In morning light,
the golden petals are impossibly more gold.
What is the ache that sometimes comes
with beauty? I face east. Though I know
it is there, I can’t see my own shadow.
One Unfathomable
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ars poetica, love, poem, poetry on September 6, 2016| 1 Comment »
Fabulous Animal
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged poem, poetry, self acceptance, shark, turtle on September 5, 2016| 1 Comment »
Then came the day when the turtle
was tired of her protective shell.
Sure, it had helped her survive,
but retreating is no way to live.
She flipped through the catalog
until she found the removable,
realistic great white shark fin,
dorsal, size medium. Just right.
It came with a strap to adjust it
to her carapace and a carrying case
for times when she’d rather be truer
to her turtle nature. It was awkward
at first, the way the other fish
scarpered when she came around.
Yeah, she felt powerful, but
to be honest, the ocean felt
a little too lonely then. Of course
she liked feeling safer, heck,
even the fishermen stayed away,
but the fin was cumbersome and
just plain strange. After a few days,
she decided to give it away
to a crab who admired it.
Let the sharks be sharks, she thought,
and she reveled in her shell, how
it allowed her body to be so very soft.
One Not Quite Accident
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged fire, inspiration, poem, poetry on September 5, 2016| 1 Comment »
One Reminder
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged poem, poetry on September 4, 2016| Leave a Comment »