Privacy and Community

 Dorland Mountain Art Colony's primary purpose is to provide creatives with uninterrupted time for their work in a beautiful setting. Dorland stipulates that residents are not to initiate contact with other residents. Initially we saw more of Duchess, the German Shepherd, than the other artists and writers. I m so grateful for this time apart.

The exception is on Friday evenings when there's a meet-and-greet. The five of us gather with Janice, our host, and share what we're working on. David Gilette is focused on finishing a novel based in Colorado; he had us all riveted with the passages he shared. Edith Hornik-Beer is a journalist, writing an article about the interdependency of socialism and capitalism; be watching for it in the New York Times.

Natasha Harrison is a glass artist, suspending petals and seeds inside blown glass pods which she then suspends in clusters. 

Chris Allen is beading morning to past midnight, exploring a new line of bracelets as well as continuing her sculpture pieces. 

And Ed has been continuing refining old work and writing new poems for an upcoming collection.

The Poet, Adrift on the Antarctic, is Angry   

because the work he ends up doing

to pay bills and feed his family

is lonely beyond understanding,

and he knows he could have done better

had he known in the beginning 

what he knows now of the world,

but he has drifted too far on this chunk of floating ice

to start over, and time has whittled his face 

into the shape of a sphinx,

and for love he stays put,

and for caution he stays put, 

chest into the wind,

hands clenched and eyes wide open,

for with time comes wisdom

with its great green eye,

and with wisdom 

comes a kind of peace,

like the fluid in the back of the eyes,

and with peace 

comes a love so hot

no ice can hold it,

and so this story ends

with the ice finally melting

and the poet in flames,

strolling, to his amazement,

across the surface 

of the waters.