#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Rainy Woods

“If the poem works, you’re transformed.”

~ Joy Harjo

Awake in the middle of the night, Frank too, which is kind of nice, because he will be leaving before I am up. And, I wake into the rain and he is gone. The heavy rain, but not so cold. I go out into the wetness with Charlie. Suzi stays warm on her cushion. Charlie and I don’t mind, we swish through the leaves, they are so lovely, slapping wet. I have a big day on my mind. A conference, the Power of Words, from my desktop, and not, in fact, live in Santa Fe, where this conference has tried to be for the past two years. Where I would like to have been! However, it’s Frank, ironically, who is off to the Southwest this weekend. Then, indoors, to the conference, and I helped two other presenters present their workshops, which was fun and energizing. Then, tonight, our keynote, Joy Harjo, Poet Laureate, reading her poems for us. I watched the weather all day from my office window––the chipmunks skittering in the juniper bushes, the rain, in and out, the light, low, low, dim and low. My youngest home during the day cooking in the kitchen and my visit with her, helping her clean up the dishes, piles of dishes, and having both my daughters in conversation in the warm and fragrant kitchen.

Joy Harjo