In a world of bests, good is a relief. Best invites an argument; good is just a suggestion.
—Melissa Kirsch, “What’s Good” in The New York Times, March 14, 2026
This morning I slip out of my good bed
into my good green slippers. I drink good coffee
and play a good game of chase with my nephews.
They are good, good boys. I take a good long drive
with my good old friend and we arrive in a town
I have loved for years full of good memories
and good people. There we eat a good dinner
and then spend a night sharing poems.
I’m grateful for the poems that make me ache,
because it’s good to bear what’s bad together.
It’s not easy. But real. Real good. The kind of good
that makes your whole body hum, that makes
your hands clap and your heart stretch wide,
feeling so good, so good, even as you cry.
Posts Tagged ‘poetry reading’
So Good
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged community, good, good enough, paradox, poetry reading on March 16, 2026| 6 Comments »
Online Poetry Reading April 3
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged albert flynn desilver, Corona Virus, poetry reading on March 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Need a poetic boost? Join me and Albert Flynn DeSilver as we read poems inspired by and in conversation with the pandemic.
Albert is the author of Writing as a Path to Awakening. He’ll be hosting the reading on Zoom. After they reading, we will open the platform for a conversation: “What role is poetry playing in your life right now?” Join us April 3, 2020 6:30 PM MST (US and Canada). Please register in advance for this webinar:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pOZT_Vq2Rs6TQMRAT5ssTA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Upcoming Poetry Events … Starting Tuesday
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Ah Haa School for the Arts, Brucie Holler, poetry reading, poetry workshop, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Weehawken Arts on June 24, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Hello Poetry Friends,
I hope you can join me in the next month at these events–several involving happy hour, one involving painting, another involving writing about painting and meditation, and several just plain old writing for the glorious sake of writing. Events in Ridgway, Telluride, Ontario, and Montrose. Come play!
June 26
Art Bar: The Art of Showing Up
Ridgeway, CO
Sherbino Theater, 6 p.m.
with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Sometimes, writing a poem is good medicine. The process can help us keep our heads and hearts where our bodies are, inviting us to return to the present moment again and again. No matter how busy you are—or not—this art of paying attention to the here and now has a wonderful way of inspiring us to live better, and to make our world better, while at the same time allowing us to see ourselves and the world as “good enough.” This is a workshop brought to you by curiosity and paradox. We’ll read, write and share poems. All levels of writing expertise welcome. For more information, contact Trisha at 970-318-0150 or programs@weehawkenarts.org. https://www.weehawkenarts.org/all-classes/343-artbar-d-the-art-of-showing-up-with-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer
July 7
First Saturday Poetry
Denver, CO
Bookbar, 4:30 p.m. mingling, 5:30 p.m. reading
Rosemerry and Erika Moss Gordon perform a poetry duet at one of the country’s most innovative and successful bookstores. For more information, contact Crystal at crystal@bookbardenver.com. https://www.bookbardenver.com/event/first-saturday-poetry-series-12
July 25 & 26
Writing into the Unknown
Telluride, CO
Ah Haa School, 3-6 p.m.
“Write what you know,” says the adage, but what happens when we write to unknow? What happens when we let our curiosity guide our writing? In this workshop, we will read poems and stories that launch us into wonder, writing that opens doors instead of clicking them closed, then we’ll leap into writing of our own, writing that is more interested in exploration than answers, writing inspired by authenticity. Let’s find out how a bit of what if might transform what happens when you sit down to the page. For more information, contact 970-728-3886. http://www.ahhaa.org/calendarize/writing-unknown-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/
July 28 & 29
The Art of Showing Up: with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer & Jill Davey
Caledon, Ontario
Alton Mill Arts Centre, 9:40 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sometimes, writing a poem is good medicine. The process can help us keep our heads and hearts where our bodies are, inviting us to return to the present moment again and again. No matter how busy we are—or not—this art of paying attention to the here and now has a wonderful way of inspiring us to live better, and to make our world better, while at the same time allowing us to see ourselves and the world as “good enough.” To explore the art of showing up, we’ll practice meditation with Jill Davey. We’ll practice ekhprasis, the art of writing poems about works of art. And we’ll practice writing poems based on our observations of the natural world.
This is a workshop brought to you by curiosity and paradox. We’ll read, write and share poems, and find quiet and voice in ourselves. All levels of writing and meditation expertise welcome. Bring a journal with you! $325 + hst. To register: https://waxworksencaustics.com/events/the-art-of-showing-up-july-28-29/ or call 519-323-3437
August 1
Write Like Crazy!
Montrose, CO
Field House, 25 Colorado Ave, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Let’s play! This is a class of prompts and writing! We’ll experiment with poetry and stories. The goal? A good time with words in a playful, supportive environment. A class for rousing your muse, no matter where you are in your writing practice. For more information, contact programs@weehawkenarts.org .
August 10-13
Taking Flight: A Poetry and Painting Retreat for Women
Telluride, CO
Ah Haa School, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily
We spend so much energy holding things together, keeping it all in. Let your pen and your paintbrush be the keys to fling open the cage doors. With curiosity as our guide and paradox as our playground, we’ll launch and laugh ourselves into four days of creative freedom. This is a time to generate new work, to be seduced by your wilder self, to explore in an uncensored way the powerful, vulnerable, radiant, humble, soaring woman that is you. All levels of experience and inexperience welcome. Led by Rosemerry and Brucie Holler. http://www.ahhaa.org/calendarize/taking-flight-poetry-painting-retreat-women-brucie-holler-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/
Workshops & Readings & Revealings, Oh My!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Corinne Platt, literary burlesque, poem, poetry, poetry reading, poetry workshop, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer on May 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Poetry friends, I hope you will be able to join me for some of these upcoming events:
May 18-20, Telluride Literary Arts Festival, featuring free readings, free open mic, free workshops, a poetry hike! For more schedule and featured guests, visit http://talkinggourds.weebly.com/literary-arts-festival.html
May 19, Literary Burlesque!! This year’s them: Uncorseted: It’s not what it seams . Eight whip-smart women strip away what it means to fight for LIBERTY in all their cheeky glory. It’s the 100th anniversary of Armistice. We celebrate the women who unbound themselves using their voices and bodies. Sexy, serious, playful, hot. I’ll be playing Anna Akhmatova, the Russian poet. 7 p.m. at the Black Box Theater in Telluride. Tickets are $20, available only at Between the Covers, 728-4504. Always sells out, get your ticket now!
May 21, Naked for Tea—I will be performing and sharing poems from my newest poetry collection in Ridgway at 6:30 at Cimarron Books and Coffee Roasters. Featuring Kyra Kopestonsky accompanying me on cello. Free.
May 23, Lost in Motherland, a free writing workshop for moms (step, biological, grand, etc) exploring how motherhood has undone us and made us who we are. At Wilkinson Public Library, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Telluride Room. To register, please call 970-728-4519 and ask for the youth services desk.
June 18, Always Becoming: A Dream and Poetry Workshop in Placerville, CO
What if you could rest in the knowing that your own consciousness had the answers that you were looking for? Each night, through the power and intensity of our dreams, we are offered pieces of ourselves that we might never come to know. Dreams speak the language of the soul, a rich and deep patois, from the deepest parts of our being. A dream may speak to a personal mythos or idea we hold about who we are, how we are living or what our future might hold; or it may offer an insight into a small detail of everyday life—what we do in relationships, how we pull back or illuminate the places we are stuck. Talking about dreams – as opposed to interpreting them – opens us up to a deep discovery of our own authenticity.
In this six-hour workshop, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., we will explore the landscape of dreams and use the symbols, images, metaphors and feelings to leap into language, writing poems that walk the line between certainty and uncertainty, dream and reality, the irrational and the true. Through dreams and poetry, we will navigate the tides of becoming—the continual, miraculous unfolding of life. No previous experience with dream work or poetry necessary. Led by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer and Corinne Platt. $100.
To register, contact Rosemerry, 970-729-1838 or wordwoman@rosemerry.com
June 26, Art Bar(d): The Art of Showing Up, Ridgway, 6-8 p.m. Sometimes, writing a poem is good medicine. The process can help us keep our heads and hearts where our bodies are, inviting us to return to the present moment again and again. No matter how busy you are—or not—this art of paying attention to the here and now has a wonderful way of inspiring us to live better, and to make our world better, while at the same time allowing us to see ourselves and the world as “good enough.” This is a workshop brought to you by curiosity and paradox. And wine. $25 gets you instruction and some liquid inspiration. We’ll read, write and share poems. All levels of writing expertise welcome. For more info or to register, contact Weehawken Arts, https://www.weehawkenarts.org/all-classes/343-artbar-d-the-art-of-showing-up-with-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer
July 7, First Saturday Poetry Series at Bookbar in Denver: Naked for Tea and Phases: Rosemerry joins bestie Erika Moss Gordon for an evening of poetic play. Free. Mingling at 4:30, reading at 5:30. For more info, contact Kate@bookbardenver.com
Playing Poetry in Central Colorado
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged cafe dawn, poetry reading, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, salida on September 6, 2017| 2 Comments »
Trommer, Randall & Hilberry @ Book Bar in Denver, April 1
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged April Fools, Book Bar, Jane Hilberry, Jessy Randall, poetry reading, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer on March 27, 2017| 2 Comments »
The Return of Wild Rose
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Art Goodtimes, poetry reading, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Wild Rose on February 16, 2017| 1 Comment »
Wild Rose … she dances on tables with death. She lights the whole house on fire. She does absinth shots with God. She has a real good time. Hope you can join her and her good pal McRedeye as they perform in Telluride on Feb. 21 at Telluride Arts and in Fruita as they perform at Lithic Books …
Read all about it, and see a few pix of the crazed duo here: Telluride Inside And Out: Wild Rose & McRedeye
Wordsharks Resurface: A Dangerous Poetry Event, Join Us If You Dare
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Art Goodtimes, David Feela, Dolores, poetry performance, poetry reading, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Sideshow Emporium on September 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Sideshow Emporium and Gallery presents
Word Sharks Resurface
on Thursday, October 3rd at 7 pm,
ending only after the tide recedes.
Regional writers Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Art Goodtimes, and David Feela
will lead the reading frenzy with some choice selections from their own writing.
The public is encouraged to bring their own words or favorite pieces by published writers
to share at the end of the evening.
Please join us for this celebration of Word Sharks–
powerful words read by a toothsome trio in an intruiging event space.
Sideshow is located in Dolores at 411 Central, Dolores.
Help us promote this event by responding on Facebook and by forwarding this email…
Young people aged 13 plus are welcome. This is a free event (that welcomes donations).
Books by our featured authors will be available for sale.
Refreshments will be available, or BYO.
Read on and click the links for more details on our featured authors…
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer has served as San Miguel County’s first poet laureate, authoring and editing thirteen books, including her most recent publication, The Less I Hold. Editor Uche Ogbuji describes Rosemerry as “always looking for the threads from the intimate to the transcendent…poems [that] are full of the restless energy needed to caress a child or a spouse in the one moment, and in the next to expand into the spheres of the night sky.” She has been chosen as a finalist for the Colorado Book Award, and won the Colorado Independent Press Association poetry award. Rosemerry’s writing has appeared on back alley fences, in her children’s lunchboxes, and on rocks she leaves around town. She also leads writing workshops for hospice, recovery programs, women’s groups, teachers and people who think they hate poetry.
Art Goodtimes is a performance poet & Western Slope Poet Laureate, and newspaper columnist, among many other things. He is legendary along the Southern Rockies as poet, performer, ritualist, Rainbow Tribe member, and Green Party activist. In her introduction, “deep ecologist” Dolores LaChapelle describes him as part of the bardic tradition “which shows us how nature and human consciousness are but different aspects of one consciousness. Bards put mind and body together within the whole of nature.” In his poetry collection, As if the World Really Mattered, we find poems that joyfully expound on
the natural world and our relationship to it.
David Feela is a poet, free-lance writer, writing instructor, and book collector. His work has appeared in the Utne Reader, High Country News, Mountain Gazette, The Four Corners Free Press, the Denver Post, the Durango Telegraph and the former Inside/Outside Southwest, among other regional and national publications. A poetry chapbook, Thought Experiments (Maverick Press), won the Southwest Poet Series. His first full length poetry book, The Home Atlas, appeared in 2009. His collection of essays, How Delicate These Arches, was selected as a finalist for the Colorado Book Award in the category of Creative Nonfiction.
We look forward to seeing you at Word Sharks Resurface early next month on Thursday Oct 3 !
Heather Narwid
Sideshow Emporium&Gallery
411 Central, Dolores
970-739-4646
Open: THUR thru MON 11a-6p (SUN 12p-5p)
Closed/ by appt only on TUE & WED
At the Poetry Reading Tanka
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ars poetica, compassion, poetry reading, scars, shoes, tanka, Valerie Haugen on July 13, 2012| 3 Comments »
for Valerie
implausibly balanced
on strappy bright pink heels,
the poem shows its scars—
I long to touch them gingerly
but they touch me