Events…

Currently I am at work discovering and generating text for a collaborative project with artist Brooke Holve https://www.brookeholve.com/ as we explore the mysteries of crumpling and crushing. In my state of hyper-awareness of the precariousness of natural systems, pursuing the haphazard, the unpredictable and the mysterious seems at the very least an exciting, engaging endeavor. Emergence from crushing is always unpredictable and unique. The result of one crumpling is never the same as another. The terrors and horrors of this moment in history recede into a fascination with the way one thing leads to another in the mildly destructive process of crumpling a piece of paper. What is lost in the creases? What comes forth? What words are readable? How would you give context to the fragmentary phrases still visible? The essence of emergence is surprise. What is the world becoming? Considering in particular the processes of a living system such as a watershed, language suggests itself that can be transferred to other ongoing situations. Soil and rocks move with water and also with wind; even temperature has an effect. Words to describe the evolution of a watershed provide a rich vocabulary for transitional processes applicable to other situations.

Elizabeth Carothers Herron served as Poet Laureate of Sonoma County 2022 to 2024. As Poet Laureate she initiated the Being Brave Poetry Project. In this undertaking she offered poetry workshops focused on finding and shaping language for what it means to live with courage in our daily lives. A description of the project is HERE.

LAUNCHED! Elizabeth’s newest book - 2023

“In the Cities of Sleep” order at Fernwood Press

PAST EVENT Occidental Center for the Arts - Virtual Book Launch: "Insistent Grace" March 2021.

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Insistent Grace

Order here…

 

From Insistent Grace…

TO BE CALLED

In fall foliage
the spangled lantern
of Japanese maple
lights the morning garden.
The hawthorn’s red berries,
sun-struck, glisten.
Last night the gibbous moon
ignited frost on the trash can lids.
Day or night
reverence rises from the ordinary.
To hold the moment,
desiring nothing,
is to behold eternal presence simply
waiting recognition.
The quiet heart
receives. The ungrasping eye sees
how the world longs to give itself,
how underneath all longing
we long to be called
to praise.