Community Poem 2025

Again to Art on Cullers Run

  

Let’s gather today, ta da, 

as the mist veils the world from sight. 

Take a load off—

 

bask in soft silks and molten jewels, 

the smell of wildflowers. 

We are the art, word fodder. 

 

His wallet, sleeping till 12 pm, yawns 

“oh-well.” I need to buy some poetry. 

Red-tailed hawk screams, “what 

should our best be?”

 

The part inside that sings? 

Trying desperately—running from 

wasps—holding the exposed parts 

together. 

 

I saw a moose––oh really?––standing 

alone in our field, taking a minute 

to warm up to the art. 

 

Rhododendron frames the silence, 

unaspirated. A tapestry underneath

is dancing to mellow songs, knitting 

useful waste.

 

a monarch pauses

one wing leads to another 

reverberations

 

This community is almost haiku, 

not even a page, open space. 

Feel the positive breeze blowing 

through the hollow. 

 

~voices of visitors to the Poetry Porch at "Art on Cullers Run"

(assembled by Charise Hoge) 

 

 

In the Tent

"Art on Cullers Run" 2025 is right around the corner! 

I will be in the poetry tent July 4th & 5th to greet you, meet you, create a new community poem, and share my work. The locale is lovely, the artists are talented, the mood is festive. Art uplifts. 

Cheers,

Charise

"the little things, mon amour"

the little things, mon amour 

It’s an inside joke how you say “armoire” 

for “chaise”—

how you speak for the arm of a seat 

like anatomy well-illustrated 

in medical books you fetch

from foreign antique shops, 

a habit that’s getting costly, 

maybe out of hand, 

but we own the armoire 

as well as the chaise—

which is often an auto 

corrected form of my name.

~CMH

This poem is in response to a prompt concerning mistakes and typos from "Next Line, Please" of The American Scholar. 

Poetry and Sound

Upcoming Event! 

The Journey Space: A Healing Arts Center

I'll be celebrating the book launch of Inheritance of Flowers at The Journey Space in Glen Echo, Maryland. This is a beautiful venue that often hosts yoga and healing practices. My friend Jeneen, founder of Soul Voyage Studio, will join me in a call and response of poetry meets sound healing. Enter a space of deep listening...

Here are the details: 

July 12,  2:00-3:00 pm Poetry Reading & Sound Healing; 3:00-3:30 Book Signing 

6110 Oberlin Ave.
Glen Echo, MD 20812

This event is free, but please rsvp as space is limited. 

Register here: https://www.soulvoyagestudio.com/events/poetry-sound

Look forward to your company, if you can make it! 

Cheers,

Charise

Podcast with WildStory

So delighted to be the featured poet for this episode of The WildStory podcast! My interview with Ann Wallace, who is also a poet, was a spontaneous conversation about themes and meanings of Inheritance of Flowers. Four poems from this new book are recited. 

Have a listen here (poetry segment is the first thirty minutes):

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-23-poet-charise-hoge-urban-naturalist-and/id1703650112?i=1000709686206

Cheers,
Charise

Release Day

5/5/25  https://kelsaybooks.com/products/inheritance-of-flowers

Dancer-Poet

On this last day of National Poetry Month, here is a glimpse of dancer-poet as performing artist. I had the pleasure of joining the cast of "The Power and the Voice of Women in Dance through the Millennia" on April 19th, directed by Karen McLane. There was narrative, and dances that women dance to heal, to celebrate, to speak in a language based on the female body and psyche. 

"Bacchanal" 

I raise a glass to all the other dancer-poets who are speaking, speaking... 

Cheers,
Charise