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DEAR FRIENDS,
Yes, it's been a while since this newsletter showed up in your inbox! I'm so touched by those of you who noticed my absence and reached out. The silence was due to the "problem" of a sudden burgeoning of invitations to offer events here and there, and also in the numbers of kindred souls who want to participate. It is very moving to send my passion for poetry into the universe and hear a multitude of voices singing back to me.
Since I last wrote, I've shared poetry and pathwork in the south of Brazil; led a retreat with poet Ellen Bass -- a first for both of us, and so rewarding in terms of new friendship and weaving our work together; joined James Baraz at his Awakening Joy Course (see links to video/audio below); and done some deep poetry diving in Canada. Most recently I gave my first professional training on the transformative power of poetry to a group of coaches and therapists in Ottawa. The inspiration that flowed in all directions was life-changing for me. I felt carried by the muses (and the wonderful organizers, Anne and Madeline, who envisioned this possibility) over the threshold into a new chapter of my work.
THE SACRED MEDICINE OF BEAUTY: JOIN ME IN HAWAII!
Earlybird Special Extended to December 31
Join me and musical alchemist Jami Sieber February 21 - March 1, 2012, for "Beyond Words: Poetry and Music as a Path of Awakening. Where black lava rocks meet the white-frothed waves, where cello and poetry tremble among notes of windrush, dove-cry, and the occasional roar of a humpback whale, we enter a vision quest through the portal of beauty... (read more) Please email me if you'd like to join us. (Photo of Kim and "Fonzie" by Burrill Crohn).
INVISIBLE CONNECTIONS...
There are still 2 places open in the 5 month SAVED BY A POEM COURSE. This takes place both through monthly conference calls and an online forum where we not only read each other's words, but speak poems for each other through the wonders of online recording. Limited to 12 participants and open to everyone. Read more here.
SOME INSPIRATIONAL LINKS
Below are some links to upcoming workshops, as well as video and audio recordings of a few of my more recent offerings.
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Speaking the Soul, January 20 - 22: The only weekend workshop planned on the west coast! IONS Earthrise Institute, Petaluma, CA.
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Poetry's Sacred Medicine: A 5-Day Immersion in Poetry and Beauty at ESALEN
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A Video of my talk at James Baraz's Awakening Joy Class: What a privilege (and, yes, JOY) that was!
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A Video of part of my Poetry Concert in Dublin last July.
AND IN THE WIDER POETRY COMMUNITY...
One of the many perks of my work is that people often send me links to wonderful poems, videos and workshops. Below are some of these:
TO KENYA, WITH LOVE 
I am counting the months until I have the opportunity to return to visit my friends in Kenya (hopefully in December 2012). In the meantime, I'm still gathering funds to support Jecinta (the young woman who appears in the final chapter of Saved by a Poem) and her sister, Purity, in their schooling. If you'd like to read more about this, click here. If you'd like to lend your support, please let me know. Every donation goes directly to the girls, and even a small one pays for a few days of school, or books, food, lodging, etc.
I've also written an article about my time with Agnes Pareyio, the woman who, with Eve Ensler and her organization VDAY, started the Safe House in Narok, Kenya, where the scene of the last chapter of my book takes place. Click here to read "A Day in the Life of Agnes Pareyio."
A POEM TO CELEBRATE THE RUMBLINGS OF A NEW WORLD
As I follow the "99%" movement and feel the rumblings of a new world pushing to be born, I think again and again of this excerpt from Lawrence Ferlinghetti's wonderful book, Poetry as Insurgent Art:
I am signaling you through the flames.
The North Pole is not where it used to be.
Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest.
Civilization self-destructs. Nemesis is knocking at the door.
What are poets for in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?
Words can save you where guns can’t.
You are Whitman, you are Poe, you are Mark Twain, you are Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay; you are Neruda and Mayakovsky and Pasolini, you are an American or a non-American, you can conquer the conquerors with words.
You can never see or hear or feel too much. If you can stand it.
Be a wolf in the sheepfold of silence.
Poems are burning bows, poems are arrows of desire, poetry gives words to the heart.
I am signaling you through the flames.
Wake up! The world is on Fire.
Have a nice day.
And because it is the poet Rainer Maria Rilke's birthday, and we're heading towards the winter solstice, here's one more:
You, Darkness
You darkness that I come from
I love you more than the fires
that confine the world.
For fire only shines a circle
so those inside are blind beyond the light.
But the darkness welcomes everything.
Shapes and flames, animals and me,
how it swallows them,
people and powers –
And I have the feeling some vast presence
is stirring all around me.
I have faith in nights.
~R. M. Rilke, translation by Kim Rosen and Maria Krekeler
With blessings to you in this season of darkness and new beginnings,
Kim Rosen
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JOIN ME ON SACRED GROUND IN HAWAII
with musical alchemist Jami Sieber
to immerse in the sacred medicine of poetry, music and nature's beauty...
February 21-March 1
Earlybird special ends December 31
Beyond Words:
Poetry and Music
as a portal to awakening
Ho'okena Beach, HI
UPCOMING EVENTS
Dublin, Ireland
Poetry Depths
6-Month Training
January 6 - 11, 2012
IONS Institute
Petaluma, CA
Speaking the Soul:
The Transformative
Power of Words
January 20 - 22, 2012
Saved by a Poem
5 Month Telecourse
starts January 29
only 2 places left!
Seattle, Washington
Living Real!
A 5 Weekend Course
for young adults
ages 18 - 30
starts February 3 - 5
Ho'okena, Hawaii
BEYOND WORDS:
Poetry and Music
as a Portal to Awakening
with Jami Sieber
Feb. 21 - March 1
Whitefish, Montana
IONS Institute
Poetry's Sacred Medicine:
an evening with Kim
April 12, 2012
&
Saved by a Poem:
A Poetry Concert
April 13, 2012
&
The Poetry Dive:
Weekend Workshop
April 13 - 15, 2012
ESALEN INSTITUTE
Big Sur, California
Poetry's Sacred Medicine:
A 5-Day Immersion
in Poetry and Beauty
Esalen
Co. Mayo, Ireland
The Poetry Dive:
Weekend Workshop
June 22 - 24
&
Poetry's Sacred Medicine:
Weeklong Retreat
(only a few spaces left!)
June 29 - July 6
Achill Island, Ireland
Dublin, Ireland
Saved by a Poem:
A Poetry Concert
July 12
&
The Poetry Dive
Weekend Workshop
July 13 - 15
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I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you
Which shall be the darkness of God
T. S. Eliot
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