Community Poem 2026

 Creative Hydration

 

We knew the thunder was coming, 

like a swarm coming after you. After loss,

community: “remind me of your name.” 

Two vessels meet, pouring into one another, 

 

reminding me of the delicate balance between 

nature and humanity. Warmth of the sun 

multiplied today... even flies are sweating.

Still, we stayed, hands clutched on our creations. 

 

This country will be “us.” A luscious garden

around empty tables, art blooming like flowers. 

Two barred owls sing me back to sleep, heaven,

infinity. Spider silk stretches between boughs. 

 

Smelling basil, I sat, grateful for a vagabond 

breeze. The deer on the road stares back. 

Butterflies tasting the salt on my skin. We are 

all pretty once. Life, the trophy, I have not

 

forgotten you. We danced, waiting for the storm 

to pass. Rain, rain, hail, hail. Creative hydration 

can quench as well... this place, people who cross 

our paths. The word “yet” fuels art, caresses the valley.  

 

~ Voices of Visitors to the Poetry Porch, Art on Cullers Run   

    (arranged by Charise Hoge)  

 Thank you all for writing on my notepad!  

 

 

 

Make it Seven

This is my seventh year as poet-in-residence for Art on Cullers Run! Hopefully the community doesn’t tire of me because I never get tired of this opportunity. It’s a highlight of the year, sharing poem making in the mountains. 

Leave the hullabaloo of the city and enjoy art outdoors for July 4th (or 3rd):

Cheers,
Charise

The Marvelous Life of a Bookseller

When all goes well, poems become books and poets become booksellers. It's the oddest thing, to write alone and share widely. But art is made to speak. And the voice of that expression doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's in the context of this chaotic, exhilarating, faltering, sweet slice of life we've been given. 

Thank you to all who visited the poetry porch at
"Art On Cullers Run" in West Virginia and all who joined me for "Poetry & Sound" in Maryland. A deep bow to you. 

Cheers,

Charise

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

"Coming Home to the Valley"

The community poem at Art on Cullers Run is a tradition. This is our fifth year, a milestone. 

I am the weaver, not the author, threading individual bits of writing into a whole. What one person writes offers a different meaning when it's joined to someone else's phrase. And seemingly random thoughts/images end up perfectly suited to the final piece. 

Here's our 2024 arts festival community poem:

Coming Home to the Valley

 

Nomads wandering country roads. 

Floating seeds ride summer breezes. 

Buzz of insects… lilt of laughter. The art

of connections. The “hi” way up gravel 

 

roads to poets and porches, panting pups 

lapping water, shadows on sweltering grass. 

Warm air lazily lazing. I’m a poet but 

have control issues, moving incrementally 

 

as the sun moves across the sky. Bee 

breath in heavy air. Dancing with creativity… 

getting lost in shadows of moon, fireflies 

glowing the quietness. Their silent song. 

 

Blood-red barns born from slices of sunrise, 

band sanders and belt saws, sweat. 

Holes in the sky between clouds steal 

some art. And the woodpecker came home 

 

with us. I refresh with the balm of beauty,

admiring art in the shade. Reminding 

me how I love boxes… filling the void. 

Say what you will, I did my best. 

 

Burgeoning clouds take me home. 

Lightness of a breeze, a kind soul, relief. 

Time exiled to savor the moment. Art brings 

the world together. Again and again.

 

~voices of visitors to the poetry tent, Art on Cullers Run 2024

(assembled by poet-in-residence Charise M. Hoge)

Thank you to all the contributors! 

More Art (on Cullers Run)

My youngest visitor, an aspiring poet...

 

 

Welcoming visitors, one and all...

 

 

Close of day in the Lost River Valley...

 

Cheers,

Charise

Poetry Outdoors

 

   

Poetry books tend to live on shelves, but sometimes they want an airing. I'm imagining that my books will benefit from two days outdoors at the upcoming Art on Cullers Run Festival, July 1 and 2. The outdoor setting is the Lost River Valley of West Virginia.

 

Look for the signs that bring you to: 460 Cullers Run Rd, Mathias, WV 26812. Artists will be there 10:00 am-5:00 pm both days, in tents, studios, and porches! Oh, my!

Cheers,

Charise

Visitors Voice a Poem

Thanks to all who contributed to the arts festival community poem!

Art on Cullers Run 2022

 

Some of us in the car had doubt.

Look, Ma! A steel chicken!

Even our dog stares mesmerized.

We press on to more unknowns.

Winding country roads lead to artists

who answer questions.

I realized my work was going “dark”––

so I moved on to the next project.

When you think you’ve gone too far

and you’ve missed it, keep on going.

I painted my way out of darkness.

Traveling with the long-skirted wind

that walks these hills.

 

Escape from solitude into community.

20 years in this place, don’t I know that face?

Even narrow roads widen horizons.

The view makes the coffee taste better.

On the hottest days, the art is cool.

Tranquility in bird songs, simple words,

lasting friendships. The light show

of fireflies luminous. Newlyweds

on a minimoon. Beautiful art

feeds the soul wherever we go.

Everyone here is on the same page.

The web of life, continually rewoven.

 

 

~ voices of poetry table visitors, arranged by Charise Hoge

 

"& Poetry"

I will be hosting and manning, or womaning, a poetry tent at Art on Cullers Run again this year. A true community event, all are welcome to contribute to a collaborative poem at my table. Afterward, this will be arranged and composed according to its own poetic music and imagery. My job is simply to craft the excellent material into a full piece. The resulting poem becomes the voice of the two day festival.

To be "& Poetry" is an honor amongst these fine artists. For 2022, I'm bringing individual poems to peruse and purchase (signed and stamped) as well as the books Striking Light from Ashes and Muse in a Suitcase. See you there...or see you back at the blog with a brand new community poem.

Warm wishes,

Charise

Art Show Word Collage

Here is the community poem from Art on Cullers Run 2021. Thank you to everyone who participated––these are your wonderful words, not mine. By using a poetic technique called erasure, I chose parts of phrases to blend with other parts of phrases. Enjoy!

Art Show Word Collage

Mountains speak.

Crowds gather 
in response, in fellowship.

The new of the old jolly tune.

Art is here, everywhere.

Echoes of grace 

escape the urban graveyard 

to bask in the breeze, the sunlight. 

Smiles nibble away 

a life hidden.
Welcome home to yourself.

What could be better?

A day is all.

I stall and scribble.

I’m not creative…at all, at all.

"Muse chair" in the poetry tent

Empathy is the way. 

Enter this church and worship art:

earth, fire, water, wind, and even metal,

light bending through glass.

Words are a beautiful window

…healing, magic. 

Life’s humor unmatched.

I’m so inspired by the artists, their creations.

How can I compare to this?

The divine resides in all of us…

hummingbirds, owls, fox. 

Green gateway to another way.

You are always home. 

Stay or stay away until…

Finally!

I’ve talked to so many people 

who might become friends.

 

 

 

And 1,2,3...presto!

The poetry tent was prepared and the people came. It was a busy weekend at Art on Cullers Run. We remembered how to talk to strangers, converse about life and art, share inspiration and stories. Thirty-three of you contributed to a community building poem, which will soon be shared. I'm shaping it into its best form with the flow of many voices. Stay tuned...

Warm wishes,

Charise

Arts Festival is Happening

This postcard is similar to the one shared in 2019–same event, same location, same Fourth of July weekend. The difference? This says 2021, and by saying 2021 it's saying that we can do this––we can reemerge, travel, gather and enjoy the arts. This is an hallelujah moment. 

I'm happy to be hosting a poetry table in the beautiful mountains of the George Washington National Forest. Mathias is about a two and a half hour drive from the nation's capital. We invite you to partake in nature and creativity to celebrate this year's July 4th holiday. 

Warm wishes,
Charise