Poet CAConrad has successfully used (Soma)tic poetry rituals to overcome destructive and debilitating depression after the murder of his boyfriend Earth (aka Mark Holmes). He has also created writing rituals using the night sky to design homemade star constellations, another ritual to experience what the impact of hearing the word “drone” has on the human body, and many others from talking with trees, ghosts, translating Shakespeare’s sonnets with crystals, and coping with the destroyed wilderness of our planet.
The (Soma)tic rituals we work with during the week will help us see the creative viability in everything around us by creating a space of “extreme present” where being anything but present is next to impossible. We will also build personalized rituals for each participant, showing how we can find ways to find our poems in almost any situation or circumstance. As poet Alice Notley says, “Poetry’s so common hardly anyone can find it.” We will also discuss how poetry and their rituals help us end our alienation from our planet and from one another. Creative people are survivors and we will examine the important role of artists for the future health and happiness of our species.
