Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT October 19th 2026

6 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read a poem “To Be A Person” by Jane Hirshfield, posted below.

Our prompt was: “Write about your waiting work-boots.”

Participants are warmly encouraged to share what you wrote below (“Leave a Reply”), to keep the conversation going here, bearing in mind that the blog of course is a public space where confidentiality is not assured.

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Please join us for our next session Friday November 6th at 12pm EST, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

To Be A Person by Jane Hirshfield

To be a person is an untenable proposition.

Odd of proportion,
upright,
unbalanced of body, feeling, and mind.

Two predators’ eyes
face forward,
yet seem always to be trying to look back.

Unhooved, untaloned fingers
seem to grasp mostly grief and pain.
To create, too often, mostly grief and pain.

Some take,
in witnessed suffering, pleasure.
Some make, of witnessed suffering, beauty.

On the other side—
a creature capable of blushing,
who chooses to spin until dizzy,
likes what is shiny,
demands to stay awake even when sleepy.

Learns what is basic, what acid,
what are stomata, nuclei, jokes,
which birds are flightless.
Learns to play four-handed piano.
To play, when it is needed, one-handed piano.

Hums. Feeds strays.
Says, “All together now, on three.”

To be a person may be possible then, after all.

Or the question may be considered still at least open—
an unused drawer, a pair of waiting work-boots.

—Jane Hirshfield


Credit: Jane Hirshfield

6 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 6PM EDT October 19th 2026”

  1. derek2178's avatar derek2178

    The black and white photo in the 1977 Kansas City Star yellowed and disintegrated, eventually, but the profile image of our father — in his waders carrying a flashlight through flooded streets of the Country Club Plaza, the fur store soggy, the jewelry store shimmering mud, while a local man in a flannel shirt and a hard hat led the way to a photo finish toward a Cadillac stranded at the intersection — that hero’s journey remains retold.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  2. Trevor Hebert's avatar Trevor Hebert

    Have I only just scratched the surface of life?

    At 38 years old, I’ve lived and died more times than I can count,

    but yet have not found something I am truly proud of.

    I feel like my work boots are still far too clean for my liking.

    I have struggled mightily, fought for years to not suppress these deep seeded emotions, to speak of the atrocities of man, of society…

    All of this inflated chesting and grand standing between the left and right while pain and suffering rests on our doorsteps. In our hearts. On the windowsill. In front of an empty fridge.

    Own nothing… and be happy.

    Happy that we are alive with no purpose? Well. I can’t abide by that narrative as I strive to be a leader, a change maker, and NOT A POLITICIAN.

    To speak, to inspire, to live and love and let be,

    because if not me, if not us, if not we, then who?

    I am not afraid of walking through muck and mud…

    So, yes. I guess I have only scratched the surface.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. michele348's avatar michele348

    About my waiting work boots ~ ~ ~

    These boots wait for me by the front door,
    Catching my eye, drawing my attentive heart
    as I pass over the threshold.

    What unexplained secrets of life
    Are they holding for me?
    What talents and abilities
    Have I been storing away in the closet,
    Keeping hidden?

    Should I try them on…
    Will they still fit my swollen feet
    Or are they one-size-fits-all?

    I guess I won’t find out
    Unless I summon my courage
    And put them on these weather-beaten feet
    That I have used to walk over some treacherous trails.

    Nothing ventured…nothing gained, they say.
    Maybe tomorrow I will try them on for size.

    Like

    Reply
    • Trevor Hebert's avatar Trevor Hebert

      Michele, its always such a pleasure to read your pieces. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” spoke to me. What have you been hiding!?

      Like

      Reply
  4. rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

    My Working Boots

    Soon I will be hanging up my working boots.

    For thirty years I have been caring for the sick and dying.

    Battling bureaucracy to advocate for my patients.

    Being abused by those whose problems are too deep to be resolved in just one encounter.

    I will no longer need to take orders from administrations who care only for numbers and proper documentation.

    My work boots have earned their rest.

    I will break on the open toed sandals and devote myself to new pursuits.

    It is time to open up the first page of my new chapter.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Trevor Hebert's avatar Trevor Hebert

      “My work boots have earned their rest.” And “Being abused by those whose problems are too deep to be resolved in just one encounter.” Oh, how I know the feeling. I hope the open toed sandals treat you better and fairly!

      Like

      Reply

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