Katherine Chantal and I presented a keynote poetry reading at the Mindful Living Soulful Aging retreat, held over the weekend at the Floyd EcoVillage and hosted by Instill Mindfulness and Be Well Now. “Mining the Gold of the Inner Life,” the sixth installment of our call-and-response Soulful Aging readings, set the tone for the retreat […]
That was what I said at the end of our reading to the Yoga Jammers who came to Katherine’s and my Fairy Godmother’s Midnight and the Art of Archetype call-and-response poetry in the Tea Shanti. Most came on the title alone because the description wasn’t in the program, and some didn’t even know it was […]
-After “The Day They Busted The Grateful Dead” by Richard Brautigan When Jerry Garcia stood on the moon alone and blue at the Atlanta Omni in 1995 his guitar defied gravity his voice waved goodbye I took the ride in stunned silence and saw what he saw We watched our planet rolling by We heard […]
Every poem is a case note Every dream is sun for the soul Every love is a lifeboat Every life holds a vein of gold _________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United
I’m not unemployed but I have no income I have a very unpopular job: I write poetry _________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United
I told all my friends that my idea of hell is exercising in a pool with a bunch of old ladies lifting pool noodles in unison But I love to swim I do the breast stroke slow and solo like water ballet I make my own way up and down the lap lane I once […]
I turn in your direction like a flower turns to the sun I look for you when I forget what it means to be a flower When you forget too I lean on time to stand up straight I hold onto the memory of the garden I’m always looking in your absence for a recognizable […]
-After a neurological diagnosis The first time I remember involuntarily swooning was on a plane to or from my brother Jim’s funeral to or from sitting with my brother Dan when he died a few weeks after we buried Jim But I swooned before that when I fell hard on the gym floor fainting at […]
Fairy Godmother’s Midnight and the Art of Archetype is the newest installment in the Soulful Aging poetry reading tour that Katherine Chantal and Colleen Redman have been doing since the winter of 2022 at various regional venues. They will be presenting this latest call-and-response reading at the Little River Poetry Festival (On the Water Outfitters […]
Late Fee Like an unpaid bill I’ll dig deep to pay The empty page is a final notice Enticement Multi-flora rose hovers like an overprotective mother It fills the yard with a thorny love with a fragrance that belies its encroachment Unconditional Love I love the red cardinal but not its behavior […]
You sat with me for hours when I was on a medicine journey but not when I had 46 stitches in my mouth not when I kept a stainless bowl by my bed because the nausea was that bad My mother delivered tea and toast on the floor by the couch when I was sick […]
Transparent and vital Water runs deep It goes where it wants to and doesn’t flow upstream It cools the burn and cleans the wound It moves around obstacles and comes full circle Shapeless It takes shape It carries its own weight First medicine First mirror Bearer of life Be more like water Follow your nature […]
