October 25, 2021

Shanai Matteson: Writing and Art on the Iron Range

 

In conjunction with her Overburden/Overlook exhibition at the
Shanai Matteson will facilitate a roundtable discussion with women artists on the Iron Range.

Sara Pajunen
Sheila Packa
Mary Erickson
and others

Please join the conversation on Tuesday, October 26 from 7-8 pm.

October 5, 2021

Poems: Wedding Blessings



Poetry's roots come from ritual and ceremony.  Eight years ago, I was commissioned to write a poem for the wedding of two wonderful women.  I wrote two poems, the epithalamion, and another as a candle-lighting blessing for their marriage (which faced the rejection of some members of their family).  Here is the blessing poem. Now they celebrate their 8th anniversary, and they continue to make the world a better place.  #lovewins









We light these candles
for those who cannot be here today
To thank them
For the times they shared the flame
The song, the prayer, and the love
In their eyes.
We light these candles
For our own arrivals and departures
And for those
Traveling farther and traveling closer.
With the light of many others,
We light these candles
For the road to love becomes a map
That each of us must draw
ourselves.
We light these candles
Send wishes of love
That will never be extinguished.
- Sheila Packa, Night Train Red Dust (Wildwood River)