Ripening in Wisdom with Elder Poets

This retreat introduces poems written later in life by a gathering of contemporary poets. They are sages who invite us into more spacious ways of living than we might otherwise imagine. Their vision invites us into “an energetic space that begets energetic space” (J. Winterson). Their gifts of wisdom, borne of long experience and heartful living, invite us to imagine that even the difficult seasons of life can become openings to an unexpected harvest. We’ll discover poems together that gesture toward our ripening and fruition. They beckon us to envision new ways of seeing, encouraging us—with the poet Rilke—to live into “a second life, timeless and wide.” Poets to be explored include Mary Oliver, W. S. Merwin, Denise Levertov, Stanley Kunitz, and Jane Hirshfield, among others.