<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Elizabeth Herron has been named Sonoma County Poet Laureate (2022 - 2024). During her tenure, she will be gathering poems from the community on the theme of “Being Brave.” </p><div class=""><br class=""></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Elizabeth's writing centers on art and ecology, the role of art in society, and the importance of natural systems and biodiversity in the well-being of individuals, communities, and the planet. <a href="http://www.elizabeth-herron.com" class="">www.elizabeth-herron.com</a>. </p><div class=""><br class=""></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Elizabeth's recent book, <i class="">Insistent Grace - </i><a href="http://www.fernwoodpress.com/2020/12/11/insistent-grace/" class="">http://www.fernwoodpress.com/2020/12/11/insistent-grace/</a> - will be followed by her forthcoming collection of poems, also from Fernwood, centered on the ramifications of climate chaos. </p><div class=""><br class=""></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Professor Emerita of Sonoma State University, Elizabeth taught Expressive Arts, Ecological Identity, Dreams & Creativity, and Creativity & Contemplative Practice. She is the author of three full-length collections, four poetry chapbooks and a collection of short fiction as well as numerous articles.</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(23, 23, 23); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Sebastopol Center for the Arts, along with the Poet Laureate Selection Committee, invites the public to a reception on <span style="text-decoration: underline" class="">Saturday, July, 30, 2022 at 4PM</span> honoring outgoing Poet Laureate, Phyllis Meshulam, and welcoming Elizabeth.</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Here is one of Elizabeth’s poems:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: "Goudy Old Style";" class=""><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">BORROWING</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><i class="">So each man must yield the lease-hold of his days.</i></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class=""><i class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </i>Beowulf</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; min-height: 21px;" class=""><i class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></i> </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">What after all do we own in this life?</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">A moon through shuddering oaks, </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">its light borrowed from the sun. </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">Would it be better if from the beginning </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">we knew the truth? that everything is borrowed, </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">that only our souls belong to us,</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">and they too only for the lease-hold of our days,</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">and little we know that number</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">or what comes after. Astonishing</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">in sunlight the lilies </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">have split their long buds to open </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">each separate petal, butter yellow </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">ignited like the moon as if</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">from within. Remember </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">spring’s first grass?</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">that same impossible incandescence</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">without apparent purpose. Light</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">escaping everywhere – in the bodhisattva </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">who passes no judgment, </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">the old horse alone in the field, </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">or the man in Tiananmen Square, side-stepping </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">to stay in the path of the tank. Light – </div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">the flood of it! Brief and unforgettable.</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal;" class="">The broken moon, the lilies of the field.</div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; min-height: 21px;" class=""> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 108px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; min-height: 21px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div></div></div></body></html>