Poetry of Nature — Year of Poetic Medicine

NanLeah and Geoff facilitate

Letters subscriptions are available at any point during the year by subscribing here.

Example letters are available here.

POETRY OF NATURE 

A Year of Poetic Medicine

“The determination to know a particular place, in my experience, is consistently rewarded. And every natural place, to my mind, is open to being known. And somewhere in this process a person begins to sense that they themselves are becoming known, so that when they are absent from that place they know that place misses them. And this reciprocity, to know and be known, reinforces a sense that one is necessary in the world.”

—Barry Lopez

“The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself”

— Wallace Stevens

Our planetary predicament calls for all possible creative responses. Poetry can help us tap into the catalyzing intelligence of Nature. The Institute for Poetic Medicine’s annual Poetry of Nature program invites participants to become more sensitively attuned, to know and be known in your “neck of the woods”. We will share our expressions of love, beauty, and concerns for the natural world. This is our fourth year of Poetry of Nature, which is a part of IPM’s Year of Poetic Medicine series.

We offer 2 levels of membership - a monthly Poetic Medicine circle, and a letters only option. All participants will receive NanLeah’s and Geoff’s letters. NanLeah’s letters arrive on the first Sunday of each month. Geoff’s letters will arrive on the third Sunday of every month. Our letters feature selected poems, nature images, contemplative exercises and plenty of poetry writing prompts to support you as you explore and deepen your connections with Nature and your inner landscape. Experience with poetry and poem making are not necessary.

All participants are invited to participate in a private virtual Poetry of Nature commons. Our private, virtual commons is a place to be known! We encourage you to share your poems, Nature experiences, and anything else that inspires you. Throughout our 2023 journey we will practice openness, curiosity, and deep listening. Our commons is a place to show up, be seen and heard, and listened into being. All contributors retain their copyrights to their work.

Our Poetic Medicine circle convenes February through November on Zoom and is co-led by poet and Nature photographer NanLeah with poet and climate change activist Geoff Oelsner. We meet the second Monday of each month from 1:00 – 3:00 Pacific. 

Space in the poetry circle is limited to 12 people to allow time for each person to share during our time together. 

Poetry Circle registration closed February 1st.  

Letters subscriptions are available at any point during the year by subscribing here.

Example letters are available here.

Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you

Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or bush does is lost to you,

You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows

Where you are. You must let it find you.

~ David Wagoner