The Way It Is: The Wisdom of Elder Poets

A Call to Transformative Living

“So, the world happens twice—
once what we see it as,
second it legends itself
deep, the way it is.”

—William Stafford

This retreat introduces poems written later in life by a selection of contemporary poets. Their gifts of wisdom, borne of long experience and heartful living, give voice to a depth and poignance that comes with the harvest years. We will bring to these gifts our own lives, with what we have come to know—and yet long to know—along life’s way. This is a wisdom that reflects long seasons of growth, ripening, and fruition, inviting the same in us as we catch glimpses of ways of seeing and being that invite us to breathe deeply and live daringly. Poets to be explored include Mary Oliver, W. S. Merwin, Denise Levertov, Stanley Kunitz, and Jane Hirshfield, among others.

Friday
3:00 Check-in begins
3:00-6:00 Arrival
6:00 Dinner
7:00 Welcome, Orientation, Opening Session

Saturday
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Session II
10:30 Break
11:00 Small Discussion Groups

12:00p Lunch

3:30 Session III
4:45-5:30 Small Discussion Groups
6:00 Dinner
7:00 Session IV (no discussion groups to follow)

Sunday
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Check-out begins
10:00 Final Session
11:30 Departure