"Poetry is the well from which all my books rise. It’s where I always go to listen, always stunned by what arrives. It’s how I remember and refresh what it means to be alive. I bring these poems back from the deep like shells from the sea that we can look at together. And so with each poem, I share the genesis of the poem, then read the poem, and unfold the lessons carried by each.
The truth is that poems come slowly. I have to sit when I’m able and try to make heart-sense of what life has been doing to me and with me. Then the poems break the surface like dolphins after long stretches of going under. Then—like wringing out a sponge—I squeeze what matters onto the page, let it dry, and see what’s there the next day. One by one, the poems gather into an instructive whole.
All this to say that by trying to make sense of my own experience, I’ve discovered a theme to our journey: that we are all reduced to joy, worn away of all excess. To survive this, we often need to hold each other up in order to discover and return to what matters. This learning program explores the essential relationships that keep shaping us."
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