for Keri Sherlock*

for Keri Sherlock
(murdered in Mt. Baker area at age 20, 1998)
By Donna Watson Rushing
2014 Merit Award

don’t go, sister, up that bright mountain
with that man. he will not recognize
the holiness either of you or of the mountain
will desecrate those sacred places

don’t go with him, daughter, in your blessed body
he does not remember the sacredness
of even his own life, has forgotten
where his hatred started
with a cold heart that barely beats
he regards you, who are truly loved

don’t go, my friend, up that winding road
your fear is your heart’s voice, straining to be heard
it is your mother’s voice, reminding you
we do not walk in fear without a reason

hush, listen … the stream is your blood
the wind, your own breath
that bird’s call, your beating heart’s song
you will be free
be kindest, daughter
always
to yourself

*Copyright 2014 by Donna Watson Rushing. Broadside designed and illustrated by Anita K. Boyle, Egress Studio.

Hugo Literary Series!

Hugo House has another stellar year of literary lights coming our way. The 2014-15 Literary Series begins Friday, September 19, with “Backseats & Bedrooms” featuring new work from novelist Mona Simpson, author of Casebook and other novels; poet Dorothea Lasky, author of four books of poetry; Carter Sickels, winner of the Lambda Literary’s Emerging Writer Award; and The Drop Shadows, who will provide music.

In addition, the three writers will offer workshops on Saturday, September 20: Mona Simpson will teach “Sentence and Sensibility“, Dorothea Lasky will teach “Anecdotes of the Jar: Create a Tiny Universe in Less Than 10 Lines” and Carter Sickels will teach “Turning Life Into Fiction.”

The Literary Series continues with equally intriguing presentations in October, February, March and May. Tickets are on sale for individual events, workshops and the full series. Go!

thinking big

Those little words on the refrigerator are hard to resist. They invite humor, poetry, reflection. Well, the folks in Fargo, North Dakota, writ large (literally) that idea for TEDx Fargo, and if you like what they did, here are the instructions.
. . . . .
Photo: Dan Francis

Sign up now and read poetry for peace

The International Day of Peace is observed worldwide on September 21. In Bellingham, Washington, the celebration will begin two days earlier, on Friday, September 19, 2014, when dozens of poets and musicians gather to share words of peace.

The free public event is held at St. James Presbyterian Church. Doors open at 5:00pm, a bread and soup supper is served at 5:30pm and readings begin at 6:15 and continue until 9:30 or 10. Each reader has a maximum of five minutes at the mic.

To sign up for the open mic, send an email to worldpeacepoets@gmail.com. Be sure to include your contact information. You will receive a confirmation e-mail indicating an approximate time for your reading.

on poetry

“I have seen the universe!
It is made of poems!”
Sjón
(b. August 27, 1962)

Writing workshop: Bellingham on Thursday

Village Books and Whatcom Community College are pleased to present a 90-minute writing workshop: Chuckanut Writers: Skeletons & Skin workshop with Rose McAleese. Whatever your writing genre, this lively session is sure to offer a new perspective on what you do and how you do it. Read more about the award-winning poet Rose McAleese. The workshop will be held in the Readings Gallery at Village Books on Thursday, August 28, 2014, 5:00-6:30pm. $15

Apply now: residency programs

Jack Straw Productions, in Seattle, is the Northwest’s only non-profit multidisciplinary audio arts center. Each year, Jack Straw Residency Programs support emerging and established artists and writers in three program areas: artists working creatively with sound; introducing writers to the medium of recorded audio; and offering artists of all disciplines the opportunity to create and present work involving sound and technology. Through a curated application process, multiple artists/writers are selected in each category and produce a variety of exhibits, recordings and performances.

Applications for Jack Straw Residency Programs are now available online. Completed applications are due October 21, 2014.

Be Fearless*

Be Fearless
By Savannah Miller, 12th grade
2014 Walk Award

One should always be fearless.
that is all that matters.
A necessity for adventure
so as not to feel Fear’s liquid iron grip
slowly encasing and hardening around your heart.
You must be fearless
But how?
By honesty, by wild ideas and by abandoning
the worries that drag your feet.
Get fearless.
And if, at some time on the endless dirt road
littered with lost hope and despair.
In the hollow silence of a lonely night,
in the piercing cold of the biting wind
at the very edge of a cliff
you are at a loss —
JUMP.
You must be fearless.
Ask the wings, the wind, the knife,
all which live freely.
Ask them what time it is,
and the wings, the wind, the knife will reply:
“It’s time to break the chains”
Be fearless.

*Copyright 2014 by Savannah Miller. Broadside designed by Anita K. Boyle, Egress Studio. Illustration by Angela Boyle, Flying Dodo Publications.

Last minute: poetry workshop tonight!

If you have a couple of hours this evening, Saturday, August 23, 2014, and are anywhere near Tacoma, the Nearsighted Narwhal is offering a two-hour workshop, Crafting Your Poem. More about the NN on Facebook.

poetry tonight!

Please join Jeni Cottrell and the Firehouse Performing Arts Center, 1314 Harris Avenue in Fairhaven (Bellingham, Washington), this evening — Friday, August 22, 2014 — as they host a reception and poetry reading for Whatcom Women Words and Works.

The exhibit, which remains on view at the Firehouse Café through the month of August, features art and poetry by Sheila Sondik, J.I. Kleinberg, Nancy Canyon and Anita K. Boyle.

The reception begins at 6:30pm, the poetry reading (in the performance space) runs 7:15-8:00pm and the reception ends at 8:30pm.