Life matters. Family matters. Every word matters. The truth matters.

Let words build bridges between me and you. This is love.

#Poetry Is Life

Eternal Mother and Father

Sandy Carlson

It is possible to love so deeply

that you cannot go. Love keeps you; you stay.

Your body releases your soul. You fly

as high as the treetops, and there you rest,

cradled like a baby, a spirit child

of a sycamore who has captured light

for a century and can sustain you

as it holds you, rafted in the sky sea.

Time and trees and the sky teach us to wait

to reach the dream place of a loved one’s soul

and find our own in a warm embrace

as the eternal sea welcomes the shore.

Who has loved will know the place to gather

who has loved you will open to eternal mother, father.

Listen to the latest episode of People & Their Poems

Watch the videocast of Sandy's conversation with Deborah

Upcoming Events

WHAT: Removing invasive plants from Flanders Nature Center

WHEN: May 2, 2026, 8 a.m.

WHERE: Blue Trail, Flanders Nature Center

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Baseball Poetry Open Mic

WHAT: A baseball themed poetry open mic

WHEN: April 19, 2026, 4-6 p.m.

WHERE: Vicinanza Studios and Gallery

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Poetry in Litchfield

WHAT: Poetry Workshop

WHEN: April 26, 2026, 2-4 p.m.

WHERE: Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT

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WHAT: Poetry Open Mic

WHEN: April 30, 2026, 6-

WHERE: Litchfield Community Center, Litchfield, CT

Orenaug Mountain Publishing (OMP) and the Litchfield Arts Council are teaming up to host two poetry events with the support of the Litchfield Historical Society and the Litchfield Community Center during National Poetry Month. Both events are free and open to the public. OMP will publish a collection of the ekphrastic poems to support the Litchfield Arts Council.

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View More Events

US Poets Laureate Series in Litchfield Draws Steady Crowd

From October 2025 through April 2026, the US Poets Laureate Series at the Oliver Wolcott Library in Litchfield, Connecticut, drew a steady crowd both in person and online. It was an honor to organize, administer, and promote this event on behalf of poetry readers from around the state, who participated in lively conversations about our nation's poets laureate and the value of their work in our lives today. Thanks to Pat Mottola, president of the Connecticut Poetry Society, for her support as well as the insights of the panelists, including Tom D. Nicotera, Margaret Hunt, Jim Kelleher, and Rick Magee.

The Nutmeg Poetry Award: Judging for the Connecticut Poetry Society

I had the honor of reading entries in the Connecticut Poetry Society's Nutmeg Poetry Competition. The experience renewed my appreciation of form because the winning entries demonstrated the deft interplay of form and meaning. The winners have been invited to read at the March meeting of Orenaug Mountain Publishing's first Sunday poetry roundtable at 2 p.m. EST on March 1. Check out the winning poems here.

The Season of Winter's Retreat

Here is a recording of the poems that Bernie Kaplan and I performed at the Jewish Community Center of Sherman, Connecticut, on Friday, February 6, 2026. Bernie is a great composer and musician as well as a delightful human being.

Celebration of the Season of the Witch at the Jewish Community Center in Sherman, Connecticut

Poets Cindy Davis and Sam Cross hosted a magical evening of poetry and music at the Jewish Community Center in Sherman, Connecticut, on Friday, 3 October 2025. I had the pleasure of working with retired educator and Master musician Bernie Kaplan, who accompanied me with his dulcimer, flute, and guitars on five poems. It was a lively gathering with an open mic that showcased the diverse talents of many poets in the area. It was a delight to be there!

Celebration of Danbury at Street Festival, 2025

I had the honor of reading new poems at the Danbury Cultural Commission at 256 Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut, on August 9. The event was part of the Danbury Street Festival 2025. The building housing the Cultural Commission is the old Danbury Library, where there is a dreamy WPA mural by Bethel artist Charles Federer on the first floor, which was once the children's department before the library moved to its new, very grand, building at 170 Main Street. I am grateful for the opportunity to share poems about growing up in Danbury, about the mural, and about Rogers Park's eight-grade science teacher and my friend Bernardo de Castro.