In celebration of National Poetry Month April, 2025:
A chapbook of poetry Still Breathing - poets reflect on compassion & hard times
Poetry’s work is the clarification and magnification of being.
~ Jane Hirshfield
Still Breathing is the manifestation of eleven Sooke writers after months of discussion, writing, and feedback sessions. Our conversations led us to consider community and how people interact—both in person and online. This led to the idea of exploring the many shapes of compassion in our lives.
Our explorations took us on a journey through ourselves and out into the community. In this changing landscape, we paused, held our breath. Through our shared experience we have discovered we are still breathing.
Available in Sooke at: ~ Terrier Books – 6689 Goodmere Rd, Sooke ~ Sooke Region Museum Gift Shop, 2070 Phillips Rd, Sooke ~ Gallery by Sooke Arts Council, 2043 Church Rd, Sooke
In this fifth chapbook eleven Sooke poets share reflections on community, compassion, and changing times.
Still Breathing
poets reflect on compassion and hard times
ISBN: 978-1-0693669-0-0
Copyright © 2025 by the contributors
~ Linda M Green Abraham ~ Jim Bottomley ~ dl clay ~ Tatjana Darling
~ DK Eve ~ Kathryn Guthrie ~ Lynda Moore ∼ Mark Smith
~ David Reichheld ~ Lorraine Sinclair ~ C.E.M. Winstanley
44 pages
$14. CAD
Poets & Poem Lines
Sharing their journey via poetry—eleven Sooke writers delve into community, compassion and kindness.
C.E.M. Winstanley
~ winter can be measured/in socks’ thickness, /the fabric of bedsheets, /the denseness of coat on/dog’s back
DK Eve
~ we have always looked above / for gods, for guides
Lynda Moore
~ Everyone teaches every day / I, age at the table, on the couch, / on the rug.
Kathryn Guthrie
~ let me hold out compassion / to last / after and / all through / the wind and / fire and / rain / all the hell and mess and glory
Mark Smith
~ waiting for a spider to move
Jim Bottomley
~ We clinked bottles / To kindness / Who gets the next round?
Lorraine Sinclair
~ Each with a journey to here
David Reichheld
~ A bad-assed fish—this poem ain’t scammin’— / Once ruled the waters, the saber-toothed salmon!
Linda M Green Abraham
~ but I have to confess when all is uttered and accomplished / I don’t mind the company or the confusion / that comes from a well-inhabited mental inventory
Tatjana Darling
~ Just thinking that / I deserved it/made everything simpler
dl clay
~ there can be beauty and light / in the night of grief / in the love found hidden in memories