A poem for January 2025
Because sometimes only poetry will do
Greetings, friends.
I don’t write poetry very often; it usually comes in times of emotional intensity, which this week has been for me, and I suspect for many of you as well. I encourage you to let your words flow, however they come out—don’t worry about syntax or rhyme, don’t worry about form or genre—just let your words be borne on the emotions you hold in your heart, and they will be true and powerful, helping you as much as they may help others. This too is writing to right the world.
And so, my poem:
January 2025
Each gray sunrise, I wake to a perpetual quandary.
I could live this day as though everything were fine,
which it is for me, so far,
as long as I maintain radio silence.
Or I could tune in to the insanity overtaking my country,
and set my nervous system on fire.
Should I focus today on the sun glittering in the snow crystals?
Or the terror in a child’s eye as ICE comes for her father?
Sometimes the tension of holding these polarities pulls me so tight,
All pleasure drains from my day
and I feel I could go crazy myself—
I could throw myself at the hideous monsters holding my country hostage,
just pummel that ugliness with all my puny might,
going out in a blaze of heartfelt,
though ultimately ineffectual,
passion.
I turn to poetry because there is no way to encompass in linear prose
the vast complexity of evil genius at work in my country,
spilling out over the entire globe,
like a deadly gas that cannot be contained or eradicated
by anything
except time.
Earth has time.
As Earthlings we have already lived through
every form of struggle, suffering, and annihilation.
We have lived through Great Extinctions, sudden or slow…
Through the Inquisition’s tortures,
Through genocides and mass enslavement,
Through episodes of being burned or buried alive
over and over again.
We have known suffering,
and as humans it’s our particular gift—
or is it our curse—
to remember it all.
To have the trauma seared into our cells, into our very DNA,
into our minds,
to be triggered in times like these,
when the fear rises again,
like a miasma from which there is no escape.
Snatches of older poems come to me now.
“How weary, flat, stale and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world….”
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
“Out, out, brief candle!”
And yet also:
“Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Truly, Mary, it’s hard to make plans right now.
It’s hard to see around the corner of the huge meteorite
that has slammed into America
and blocked out all the sunlight.
It must be acknowledged that we are living in a blood-dimmed time,
once again under the sway of that beast with the blank and pitiless gaze,
once again scurrying for shelter underground,
keeping our heads down lest they be cut off.
I am no hero.
But I am the heroine of my own life’s tale,
and I can choose to take the reins of my own small, bounded destiny.
I can choose to be the girl offering her single rose to the riot police;
the girl standing her ground before the giant bulldozer;
the girl snarling “How dare you?!” to the assembled corporate suits.
I have been the Cassandra and it was no use.
Now I can at least be the Horatio,
who speaks truth to power,
who listens to the sparrows,
who praises the fallen,
who writes the story of their time
as a cautionary tale for future generations—
those old souls,
bright angels,
who even now are winging their way towards Bethlehem
to be born anew.
Creativity is the best medicine!
My writing workshops in purposeful memoir are intended as creative recharges, a chance to learn and grow with kindred spirits in nurturing places.
I have several opportunities coming up—locally in the Berkshires, online or internationally!
Explore the garden of your life in a special writing workshop series at the Berkshire Botanical Garden starting January 29!
Come meet other writer-gardeners and brighten up the winter season with the creative bloom of memoir writing in good company!
We’ll meet on four Wednesday mornings, January 29 - February 19, on the lovely campus of the Berkshire Botanical Garden, for a series of memoir writing workshops taking off on the theme of gardening.
At two-hour online workshop hosted by Berkshire OLLI, explore “The Many Faces of Love”
In this online memoir class, open to writers at all levels, we’ll focus on generating rich, detailed prose writing, capturing the full range of emotions inspired by Love and spinning them into the gold of a good story, well told.
You’ll learn how shifts in narration, point of view and voice can change the tenor of your story; how to use description to build detailed settings without getting in the way of pacing and plot; and how to get inside your characters (including yourself!), showing them in action in ways that move and inspire your readers.
Come prepared to be moved and to move others as we write and share about Love in good company!
March 10, 10 am - noon Eastern, hosted by Berkshire OLLI. $15 for OLLI members, $20 for non-members.
Come write and speak your truth with me in this powerful four-session Bioneers Learning online class!
In this hands-on class hosted by Bioneers Learning, we’ll look deeply at some of the major social and environmental issues of our time and consider how outstanding leaders have used creative expression to make a difference.
Inspired by these models, you’ll work on expressing your own ideas with confidence, clarity, and eloquence, in both writing and public speaking, coming away with a portfolio of writing, a recorded talk, and a circle of kindred spirits cheering you on.
Four Fridays, Feb. 28 - March 21, 2025, live online from 12 - 1:30 pm with recordings available.
Meet me at Rowe Retreat Center next May for a purposeful memoir workshop, “Mothering the Self, Mothering the World”
Come on retreat with me in the beautiful springtime setting of Rowe, Massachusetts, where we’ll write to explore our deep connections with our Mother Earth, Gaia, as well as how the potent theme of mothering and nurturing has shown up in our lives.
Rowe is a magical retreat center nestled in the northern Berkshire mountains, with trails through mature forests bordering a tranquil lake. It’s rustic in a way that encourages communion with the land and camaraderie with the kindred spirits in our circle.
May 9 - 11, 2025. Sliding scale tuition and a variety of accommodations on site. I can’t wait to share this special experience with you!
Come Riding & Writing in Iceland with me in June!
Riding & Writing in Iceland!
June 2 - 8, 2025
The creative tonic of Iceland has to be experienced to be understood.
Come experience the body, mind and spirit glow that comes from Riding & Writing in good company in a beautiful place, warmly hosted by our friends Gudmar and Christina at Hestaland.
Click here to find out more and see beautiful photos from my past Riding & Writing trips to Iceland.
Friends, it’s my pleasure and my passion to support you as we stretch towards living our lives creatively and to the fullest.
The motto of my author consulting business is “Writing to Right the World,” and the motto of my book publishing business, Green Fire Press, is “Books that Make the World Better.”
If these intentions resonate with you and you are working on a book, or have one in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Supporting creative people bring their work more strongly out into the world is one way I try to make the world better.
Wow Jen just wow…
So poignant… I felt every line… and truth.
Thank you
Thank you Jenny! Your poem is very helpful. You may want to submit it to
The New Yorker, Orion and The Atlantic. You’re very much in tune with what is going on, as painful as it is right now.
May goodness prevail !💗