January 2026 Letter | John Fox, PPM

Dear Friend of Poetic Medicine,

…whose morning-time

begins, like fresh linen smoothed

flat by the weathered hands

of this one life

That’s Where You Can Hear Good Singing

These lines I am drawing out from my poem January 1 say that in some way we, that you and I, even with our weathered hands, have fresh linen to start this year with.

I have quoted this from Rainer Maria Rilke many times:

You must give birth to your images.

They are the future waiting to be born.

I want our future in 2026 to be that of fresh linen. That’s the image I am giving birth to. I know that this linen is spread on a rough-hewn table – of history and story -- but beneath my hands, underneath my palms and fingers, spreading this linen has the feeling of tangible hope, a tangible felt sense of clean freshness.

We can sit here…

together, to savor, to talk

We have been through so much as a nation in 2025. Much of it is, for me, troubling and disheartening. You, as an individual person, may have been through more challenge than can be told and measured. Your heart & mind, body & soul may have felt a great sorrow, a sorrow including and well-beyond yourself, undergone significant personal testing and loss, faced something that required attention and healing.

This is true for me.

You may have also experienced joy and blessing that mere words could have difficulty capturing. As you know, I am a big believer in the possibilities of poetry and poem-making to capture essence. Yet, let’s be honest here! At times the only possibility is sheer, wordless awe.

I hope that this kind of awe has visited you.

I was sharing with a friend the sorrow and angst that I feel about troubling realities in our country and in the world. I don’t have to enumerate them here. I am aware of a strong desire for more Light. I want more light!

Capital L and small l.

Yet my friend, Basha Brownstein, at Cancer Lifeline, who communicates on a daily basis with people living on the edge, she came back to me with a challenging quote that she values by Carl Jung:

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.

I hope we can agree that while we may all wish for more light, what Jung calls upon us to consider, this “making the darkness conscious” is exactly where the deep, challenging work of genuine change is to be found.

What could this mean – to make the darkness conscious?

Instantly, the incorrigible poetry therapist in me, begins to search for, consider a poem, find a poem, that expresses what I am saying in prose.

Lines from this poem arrived quickly to my heart:

…those in need have to step forward,

have to say: I am blind,

or: I'm about to go blind,

or: nothing is going well with me,

or: I have a child who is sick,

or: right there I am sort of glued together. . . .

And probably that doesn't do anything either.

They have to sing; if they didn't sing, everyone

would walk past, as if they were fences or trees.

That's where you can hear good singing.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

translated by Robert Bly

Isn’t this a version of what Jung is asking people to do? Say what is truly needed? I am in need of…?... I am in need because of... This is to name where your vulnerability lives. What do you have a need to speak up for?

I offer this from M., a 15-year-old teen from Somalia, who has a need to speak up for his people and their / his trauma:

In my country

I saw blood

I saw people getting killed

I saw animals dying from hunger

I saw people disrespecting

grandma, grandpa, mom, sister, daughter, wife

*

and in another poem, say what he treasures:

I write to remind myself about the taste of digir iyo cano,

I write to tell you how well the goats sleep after they drink water

I write to pray for my beautiful country, that can have peace again.

How extraordinary that a 15-year-old boy recognizes all those individual relationships. He cherishes them. M has the courage and innate wisdom to make darkness conscious; he is a very good singer.

This poem appears in We Are the Future: Poems with a Voice for Peace from the Stories of Arrival Poetry Project, led by Merna Ann Hecht. M was a student with Merna and the classroom teacher, Carrie Stradley. Many other teens wrote poems about their lives. They have done this for 13 years with Merna and Carrie. We could learn so much from them … if we listen.

That is what we do through poetic medicine: help people, often people who are in great need, people living courageously at the margins; we help them say their lives in a way that makes darkness conscious.

We add this benefit and blessing -- via poetry, in a way where they SING.

Perhaps that linen I have spread out on the rough-hewn table is made fresh by that singing.

Giving Voice to What Empowers and Gives Hope

Rather than ignoring our troubling reality, even with the wisdom of Carl Jung ringing in my ears, I lean into something that gives voice to our predicament in a way to empower, is hopeful.

The hopefulness is, if we step into it, I am suddenly aware that that hopefulness is up to you and me, hopefulness is up to us.

Because I care about that hope, I have been paying attention to places and people where there is encouragement to act for our common good, which is an expression of hopefulness.

Such encouragement comes from a wise historian, Timothy Snyder, author of the book On Tyranny:

Avoid pronouncing the phrases that everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books.

~ Timothy Snyder

I am going to add to Timothy’s “read books” ... write poems!

Snyder has good guidance about countering authoritarianism with democracy, with healthy dialogue. I am heartened by Snyder’s call to claim your unique way of seeing and speaking.

This feels very aligned with what we are saying to people at IPM.

Snyder is saying to avoid - at all costs - allowing your voice to be pirated, taken over, claimed by corporations and authoritarian regimes. I am not saying that you are doing that—but I believe, since it is all around us, at all times, including through the dangers of AI, we all need to be wary of falling into this snare and stay aware that each one of us must make the effort to be free.

I am further heartened to know his exhortation of not repeating what you have already heard, echoes what the great guru Paramahansa Yogananda, said about creating prayer:

Remember, God is creativity. I don’t want you to even mimic prayers. Create your own prayers. Don’t allow it to become like a parrot speaking. I want you to use your own words and allow this creativity to come through. Nobody has a cornerstone on truth.

~ Paramahansa Yogananda

A great blessing is that poetry and poem-making are a catalyst for surprise and a place for originality. Paramahansa-ji lifts-up the banner of surprise and originality.

These two things—surprise, originality—might be an excellent way to describe key elements necessary to create of the sacred and alchemical vessel that each person can make their very own and use in their lives.

I feel that my writing of poems and speaking of poetry-as-healer throughout my life is my sacred and alchemical vessel.

I have done my best to stay close to the clear advice expressed in what the self-proclaimed “spiritual contrarian” and author, Barbara Brown Taylor, puts this way:

This is really all I mean by economy: to say only what you know to be true, to say it from the heart, and to sit down.

*

In a word-clogged world, the only words that stand a chance of getting people’s attention are simple, honest words that come from everyday life.

~ Barbara Brown Taylor

These passages are lifted from Taylor’s book, When God Is Silent, from a section titled Restraint. There is solace, calm, clarity, restraint and gentle guidance for me in what she says.

My word solace may sound the most noticeable. Solace is felt when someone steps apart and away from that word-clogged world of suffocation—and enters into a place where the air is fresh.

To everyone associated with IPM, everyone, especially those who are guiding poetry circles, who are bringing poetry-as-healer to people, that experience and these practitioners are like this — fresh air.

Our slowing down to write, slowing down to speak poems twice, having this all enfolded in the slowing down that deep listening asks for—I believe this is fresh air.

The Listening Language of Air

When people, who, with hearts

and minds engaged take care

with one another and long enough

to pause, to let silence

(and words spoken from the heart)

have a deeper share

of whatever time is given them —

so that our breath, mine and yours,

enriched by listening, touches air.

That element becomes a living presence

which breathes in silence, breathes

in our words, our voice, and then,

when breathing out, opens us up to life,

a sense of grace. As if what we breathe

together in this way is a language of listening,

a universal quiet wherein we understand

each other and even when we don't,

are aware of how it joins us here.

~ John Fox

It was in 1999 that I first learned of Barbara Brown Taylor, reading in the San Francisco Chronicle, how, as a preacher, she was enthused to include poetry in her sermons. These were not the philosophical poems of the 19th Century that my father loved. It was like ... wait for this ... using contemporary poems by contemporary poets!

I was impressed and I was inspired. In December 1999, I made a kind of pilgrimage to visit her at Piedmont College in Demorest, GA. We sat a large wooden table in her office which may have not been rough-hewn and mottled, exactly, but close enough!

That’s where and when Barbara gave me a copy of When God Is Silent —this still treasured book.

Fresh Linen, Fresh Air and Good Singing

There you have it – images I am giving birth to in 2026. I know the headwind against right action & right speech, goodness & kindness, truth & beauty will be fierce. It is, with the terribly wrong killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, already very fierce.

Yet I am whole-heartedly willing to face that wind. I am committed to these in my life and the life of The Institute for Poetic Medicine.

I know that many others are joining us. “We the People,” to quote our Constitution, are in this together! You will have your unique images that you want to birth. I welcome you to share those images in poems you write, in the wordless awe of your heart, in ordinary conversation.

Right now, I am going to lift-up with great thanks the fresh linen and fresh air of all those who have generously given – in addition to giving your benevolent thought – given financially to our nonprofit.

I can’t say this adequately! If I could sing this, I would do that for you.

 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶  Thank You  🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶

We set a modest fundraising goal of $5,000 for our Giving Tuesday, End-of-the-Year Fundraising Campaign. WELL…we blew past that and landed somewhere in the realm of $10,000+ !! For everyone reading this who is part of that giving story, you are part of something that gives people a life-changing tool, you are planting a meaning-making perennial that lasts and will keep blossoming.

Excitement and Possibility – Upcoming Programs of IPM & John Fox

ask them with reverence,

of my mother the earth,

of the sky, moon, and sun my father.

I am old age:

the essence of life,

I am the source of all happiness.

All is peaceful, all in beauty,

all in harmony, all in joy.

Diné

Lupita McClanahan Visits California

We announced last month that January is going to feature a visit to Mountain View on Saturday evening, January 17^th at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church and Carmel Valley on Monday afternoon January 19^th at Hidden Valley Arts by the truly wise elder Lupita McClanahan.

Lupita will be sharing her Diné world view,“The Path to Hozho- Teachings of the Beauty Way in Difficult Times.” These talks and conversations, sponsored by IPM, are free to the public. There will be an opportunity to donate if you wish – donations going to Lupita and her Footpath Journeys. https://www.footpathjourneys.com/ 

Lupita’s poems can be read here: Creator and Indian Gifts.

Please read more about each event here: January 17th and January 19th.

Poetry as a Tool for Wellness

Our immensely successful Poetry as a Tool for Wellness program – provided in various formats – is starting out strong this year. There is a poetry circle - a stand-alone session - titled Power of Voice, on January 17^th at 11:00 a.m. Pacific. 

The February session will be offered at a new time to allow international participants to more-easliy join the circle. Join us February 13th at 6:30pm Pacific!

Starting on Saturday January 31^st at 11 a.m. Pacific, we begin a 9-week on-line PTW Facilitator Training.

"This program has been so meaningful and beneficial both personally and professionally. The trainers were PHENOMENAL!!!! No notes! They helped create a brave space for us all to grow in new ways, and I’ll always value the connections and experiences I had through this training!"

Harlan, Peer Support Specialist

This training used to be 8-weeks and reviewing this, our trainers decided to add the 9^th week in order to have a class to celebrate what these facilitators have done -- and to allow a space for them to learn how such a celebratory class could happen for their own circles. Please see the links to these PTW programs in the Newsletter.

Poetry of Nature

Poetry of Nature (PON) is designed for those interested in connecting their own poetry practice to the Natural World around them. Led by NanLeah and Geoff Oelsner, PON is walking with enthusiasm, joy and dedication into its 7^th year. The initial touch point for this year will be the poem The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry.

"The Poetry of Nature experience is a nourishing one. Meeting with a group of like-minded participants who share a love of Nature and the written word is quite special. We get to write about and share the wonder of nature in all its aspects and a Poetry of Nature meeting is a safe and sacred space."

Jerri C., Massachusetts

Now is the time to register for this year-long program. Registration for limited the limited number of monthly poetry circle spaces will end on January 31st. I encourage you to join to receive the incredible letters NanLeah writes, which will be sent February through November.

Practitioner Poetic Medicine Training Program

I am excited and pleased to have begun teaching Cohort 4 of the PPM Training – 9 people are beginning Phase 2 of the training. Phase 2 began in November and will carry through to September 2026.  Phase 1 and Phase 2 are both about 8 months long.

These 9 students have already traveled through Phase 1 under the guidance of Witek Nowosiad. It is significant that Witek is chief chaplain at Children’s Medical Center in Plano, TX, led Phase 1. This is new for us – to bring qualified people in to act as PPM teachers.

Phase 1 is focused on the chapters and exercises of the book Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-Making. There are letters written to hold and expand each chapter. Phase 2 is twelve classes focused on the wise applications of practice. Phase 3 is focused on taking this practice out into the world and to complete a range of academic requirements.

These nine students are all chaplains connected with Children’s Medical. This is so exciting in and of itself -- to guide chaplains so they can bring poetic medicine into their hospital practice. Their goal is to become Practitioners of Poetic Medicine.

They are already rich and ready with compassion and care, and especially with the practice of deep listening. They are being trained by Witek in the profound field of Clinical Pastoral Education.

Joining PM and CPE is a great advancement in the organic and visionary reality of this work. That means the way visionary leaders Witek Nowosiad and John Fox, see, believe and are working together to nourish the organic relationship possible between CPE and PM, between chaplaincy and poetry therapists.

I will say that for his courage and determination to make this relationship, I bow to Witek. It is our hope that other people involved in teaching CPE will join in this connection.

A spirit of expansion is staying with IPM. John will continue to be involved but there will be the advantage of having excellent graduates, with their unique and stellar teaching capacity, join in teaching this profoundly designed 3-Phase training.

In Summer of this year we are planning to welcome a Cohort 5, into this Three-Phase, Three-Year training in the practice of Poetic Medicine. If you would like to know more, please write to us at ppm@poeticmedicine.org.

Poetry Reading, Joining with Meredith Heller

I don’t do this often – speak my poems in public. The good fortune is that this time, at the Mill Valley Library on Thursday, March 5, I will speak poems with my dear friend – and dear friend of Poetic Medicine – Meredith Heller. 

Meredith is the author of Writing by Heart, published by New World Library. I wrote the Foreword for her book. If you are looking to be heartened and given a blessing for Spring, be there. https://millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/calendar/events...

Connections: Synapse & Felt-Sense, Imagination & Your Child Spirit

Bless the spirit that makes connections,

for truly we live in what we imagine.

Clocks move along-side our real life

with steps that are ever the same.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

I will travel to Del Mar, CA March 20^th, 21^st, 23^rd to offer this retreat.

I have been going to San Diego, Del Mar and Encinitas for 30 years – save for a few years of Covid impacted time. John Foos and Rebecca Speer and I met at a bookstore in Del Mar in 1995 at the book launch of Finding What You Didn’t Lose.

John and Rebecca came up to me and John recited a line from the poem LOST written by David Wagoner. I repeated the next line and off we went, reciting the entire poem to one another. Since that time our friendship has flourished. John and Rebecca have coordinated 28 years of weekend retreats. They have been the guides of a mostly in-person monthly poetry group, IONA Poetry Community, for as many years.

We don’t have it yet but soon there will be a flyer that says more and will allow you to register. If you are interested, please contact programs@poeticmedicine.org.

I hope you are staying well. We have a fresh year with its fresh linen, fresh air and good singing to welcome. We have our unique voices to keep a hold of and encourage this year. We have a place to sit down, savor, talk.

Please let us hear from you. Thank you for reading this letter and for checking out what we are offering.

Kindness,

John Fox