Poetry

I'd almost forgotten I started this blog. Writing is a lifeline, art, a tether in a boundless, open sea.

I met my favorite writer, Terry Tempest Williams on campus at an event over a decade ago. It was happenstance. I walked through an entryway to a dorm, a small group of people sat in a circle discussing poetry. I stopped. As they discussed the importance, for the world, of getting what's inside of us out, I could not move. I had to join them. TTW asked us what keeps us up at night. I wish I could find my response. I remember it was mostly activism: how we wanted to change the world and why. A line from our freshman "theme," Mary Oliver's poem "The Summer Day" came to mind. She asks: "What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" This was a big part of my response. I'll see if I can find it.

Terry invited 2 or 3 of us to stand with her and read our thoughts aloud at her event. She chose me. At the time, I hadn't heard of her or her writing. I hadn't known we'd been raised in similar spaces, with similar traditions and patterns. I couldn't have understood the deep and lasting connection with red sand and earth that we shared. It was a pivotal moment. I look back and wonder what could've happened if I'd made more time for writing? Who would I be today? I think of the woman who petitioned and fought for TTW to come to our campus in the first place and remember what a gentle force she was. Outspoken about being stewards of the earth and our interconnectedness to it. Her small community of people were loving, inclusive and as diverse as a box of crayons (side note: don't you just LOVE opening a new box of crayons and using all of the colors for the first time? Mixing to make new colors, putting them all in perfect half circles to make beautiful rainbows? Just me?) 

It's taken me years to find my voice. To stand up publicly for what I know to be true. To fight for what is good and right. For humanity, community, love. I admire those women, who taught me, by example, how to find my voice and who remind me still how important it is just to show up. To stand out, speak up, and provide that light for someone else. Thank you, incredible women.