Mindful Poetry Gathering - April 15th, 2026

Today
is a rare day. I have finally had the courage to tell him
what the sky said to me all those years ago. That I am bound
to its bloodline, though I can never know its true body.

—Analicia Sotelo, “Quemado, Texas”

In this gathering, we listened and contemplated the poem "Quemado, Texas" by Analicia Sotelo. The Well’s Patrick Raneses opened our session with orienting meditation and poet and educator Rebecca Lindenberg led our exploration of the poem.

PROMPT, 10 minutes:

In her poem, Analicia Sotelo maps her grandfather onto the landscape she most profoundly associates with him. In his absence, in vanishing into that landscape, the landscape itself remains as a representation of him. He has “vanished” into it, becoming part of it, becoming everywhere.

Think of a person in your own life who is important to you. Think of the environment with which you most deeply associate that person – for whatever reason. It could be where they’re from, or where you spent the most time with them, or it could just be their vibe. Describe this landscape in such a way that it communicates and/or evokes the personality of the individual who’s important to you. Is the person/environment tough? Are they comforting? Are they cold? Are they suffocating? Do they make you nostalgic? Are they lofty and inspiring? Capture the person by describing the environment with which you most strongly connect them.

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