I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;
I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan’t be gone long.—You come too.
–Robert Frost, “The Pasture”
Dodge Poetry’s Clearing the Spring, Tending the Fountain gets its title from the understanding that, like the spring in Robert Frost’s “The Pasture,” the spring of our imaginative and creative centers requires tending. This can be particularly true for teachers with the increasing pressures put on them in these challenging times.
Led by Dodge Poets and meeting for six 2¼ hour weekly sessions, Clearing the Spring, Tending the Fountain groups meet at locations throughout the state for broad discussions of the nature of poetry and specific explorations of how we respond to individual poems, regularly encouraging participants to re-experience their deepest connections to this ancient art and to reawaken our “beginner’s mind.”
Although sessions may include opportunities to compose what might be called “acts of language,” writing is not a requirement for participation.
Teachers can earn up to 20 professional development hours with full participation in the six weekly sessions and the Common Gathering (Saturday, April 30) and by completing a simple survey.
Registration is open now. Please visit the Dodge Poetry website for more information and registration details.