Poets Corner
Poet’s Corner is our new column devoted to poetry; a point of refuge in the online world where those who believe in the transformative power of language can come for contemplation and renewal. In pondering a name for this column, we remembered Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey, and, in NYC, St. John of the Divine Cathedral’s American Poets Corner. These sacred spaces in the physical world offer a palpable retreat from the bustle of the everyday; they are places where silence and only the most luminous and considered of words hold sway. We are drawn to this connection because we believe poetry can be a kind of sacred vocation as well as a contemplative encounter.
On This Ship, You’ll Fly
What shall I give my children? who are poor, Who are adjudged the leastwise of the land, Who are my sweetest lepers, who demand No velvet and no velvety velour…
Engaging the World
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Since we began Engaging the Senses Foundation in…
Open Mind, Open Heart
Every day we’re overwhelmed by too much stimuli and by the knowledge of terrible things — from daily gun violence, to climate change, to the most divisive political administration most…
What We Bring to Bear
Winters in Seattle aren’t my best time any year, and lately this one has felt grim. Rain, of course, short flat cold days, and we’ve had the inevitable winter illnesses,…
Trying to Listen, Learning to Speak
If someone listens, deeply, you’ve been heard, which helps you absorb it, and you can lay it at the feet of the right god. — Anne Lamott Last week, we…
A Rumination on Images, Loss, and the Strange Comfort of Silence
A few weeks ago, a cousin sent me a photograph from the memorial dinner we had held after my father died, celebrating his life. It’s a photo I cherish because…