Welcome to Bearbones.

Since Winter Solstice 2017, this has been a home for poems. They come as lines in the night or dreams that linger, and are more creatures in their own right than clusters of my painstakingly chosen words (though there is that, too).

Behind each poem, there is a story — an encounter with a moose, or a generous tree. At times I’ve wished to share these backstories, and the curiosities they inspire. So for a few months, starting in January 2020, I gave that a whirl.

I was hesitant, not wanting to influence the reader-poem relationship. I’ve come to see that interaction as an intimate and personal thing. When a poem is delivered well, it becomes yours. An effective poet is a skilled messenger. 

Yet that poet can also be a guide. The challenge is to share the story, while still protecting the space in which poems work their magic.

So that was my goal in offering short essay/poem pairings – to pick my way between too little and too much, offering a glimpse of what wants to rush through — so it might commune, independently, with you. 

I continue to hope that sharing a few lines, in whatever form, stirs something real inside of you – you know, the Velveteen Rabbit kind of real. Then maybe, someday, that motion might build into something undeniably alive for you, an inspiration of your own that spins off into the wild world we share – and nudges still another.

Go. Do it. I’ll keep the fire going.

Tricia Elliott/bearbones