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    Home » Sedona Lit: Poems of the Sedona Light
    Elizabeth Oakes

    Sedona Lit: Poems of the Sedona Light

    August 22, 2016Updated:August 20, 20164 Comments2 Mins Read
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    Sedona Lit is a series by Dr. Elizabeth Oakes, an award winning poet and former Shakespeare professor. A Sedonian of three years, she will highlight the literature, written or performed, of Sedona, past and present.

    photo_elizabethoakes_216By Elizabeth Oakes
    (August 22, 2016)

    In Sedona, light is our habitat, just as the red rocks, junipers, bluest of blue skies, clouds, and vortex energies. It’s not just beautiful sunrises and sunsets, although there surely are those; it’s the way the actual light sometimes enters our world. I don’t know that there’s even a word for it. Some may say it’s the refraction on the camera lens, and sometimes it is, but other times, it seems that the light we live by just shows itself to us, shows us our world, shows us what makes everything possible.

    In this first installment of poems by Sedonians about the light, four writers share their experience, as do two photographers, and this party’s going on for two more weeks!

    20160822_lit1

    The dark and light take
    turns; a Sufi twirling skies
    Ecstasy abounds
    Annie Berardini-Rivers, Writer, Musician, Lifetime Nomad

    The Magical Light in Sedona
    When you “watch” the sunset, do you miss
    what it is really about? It is not just as the sun
    goes down. It is about the precious few moments
    before and quite a while after that.
    Stop talking! Just walk slowly around and be!
    Beverly Kievman Copen, Author, Photographer

    20160822_lit2

    Light played the contours
    Revealing hidden patterns
    Among crevasses
    So, this is home
    Tender resonance
    Martha Entin, Poet

    Sedona Twilight
    Living in Sedona one never sees
    the exact moment of sunrise or sunset
    blocked by the Mogollon Rim or Mingus Mountain
    forcing the Sedonuts to live in extended stretches of twinkling twilight.
    I think that explains a lot.
    Gary Every, Writer

    Parts Two and Three will feature poems by Randy Fridley, Kate Hawkes, Nicholas Kirsten Honshin, Barbara Litrell, Christine Marie, Jan Justice Oswald, Kenyon Taylor, and Bill Ward, with photographs by Nicholas Kirsten Honshin and Ron Chilston.

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    Scott mayor
    samaireformayor
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    Sedona.biz Staff

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    4 Comments

    1. Beverly Kievman Copen on August 22, 2016 1:07 pm

      Elizabeth, what a lovely idea for a series. I feel honored that you wanted me to be a part of this. I appreciated the encouragement to remember writing poems again.

      • Elizabeth Oakes on August 24, 2016 5:39 pm

        Beverly, your poem and photo are wonderful! Thank you! I’ll be doing something like this again and hope you’ll share your creative vision again!

    2. Randall Reynolds on August 24, 2016 6:05 am

      Thanks Libby– this is all wonderful and I always look forward to your entries. It is inspiring to read of other people who experience the ‘Sedona-Dream’, however it may be expressed! The addition of images is magical. Cheers!

      • Elizabeth Oakes on August 24, 2016 5:39 pm

        Randall, You are always so kind, and I appreciate your feedback tremendously! Thank you —

    Paid Political Ad Paid For by Samaire for Mayor
    Paid Political Ad for Samaire Armstrong
    Paid Political Announcement by Samaire For Mayor

     THE MOMENT IS UPON US

    Dear Sedona,

    The moment is upon us. The time for a united effort to shift the focus back to our community is now.

    The ability to thrive in our community, our environment, our workforce, and the tourist industry, is entirely possible because we have all the resources needed for success.

    Still, we need a council that isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions, that makes decisions based on data and facts, and through discussion, rather than moving and voting in group unison as they so regularly do.

    This is my home. I have been a part of the Sedona community for 28 years. I witnessed the road debacle, the lack of planning, the city circumventing the local businesses ability to thrive, while making choices to expand the local government and be in direct competition with private industry.

    I am a unique candidate because unlike the incumbents, I don’t believe the government should expand in size, nor in operations, nor would I attempt to micromanage every aspect of our community.

    City government should stay in its lane and allow the competitive market of local private industry to prosper. And it should defend our community from corporate takeover and infiltration of our town.

    I do not agree that we should sign onto International Building Codes and regulations by signing Sedona up to the ICC. It is imperative that we remain a sweet, rural community.

    Where are the arts? Where is this organic thriving element that we allege to be animated by. Where is our culture? Where is our community?

    The discord between the decision making process and the desires of the community have never been more clear. It has been nearly a decade in the making.

    It is time for a new era of energy to take charge. An energy that is reflective in the ability to succeed rather than be trapped in out of date consciousness.

    It has been a great honor meeting with each of you. I hear your concerns over the insane and out of control spending and I echo them. A budget of $105,000,000 in a town of 9700 residents is completely unacceptable. A parking structure (that looks like a shoe box) originally slated to cost 11 million, now projected to cost 18 million, is incomprehensible. Especially, considering there is no intention of charging for parking.

    For those who are concerned that I lack the political experience within our established system- that is precisely what Sedona needs… Not another politician, but instead a person who understands people, who listens to the voices within the community, and who will act in service on their behalf with accountability, for the highest good of Sedona. What I am not, will prove to be an asset as I navigate the entrenched bureaucracy with a fresh perspective. Business as usual, is over.

    Creative solutions require new energy.

    Every decision that is made by our local government, must contemplate Sedona first.

    • Does this decision benefit the residents?
    • Does this decision benefit the local businesses?
    • Does this decision actually help the environment?
    • Will this decision sustain benefit in the future, or will it bring more problems?

    What we have now is a city government that expands to 165 employees for 9700 residents. Palm Desert has 53,000 residents and 119 city employees. Majority of our city department heads are not even in town. I find this problematic.

    Efforts towards championing in and courting new solutions for our medical needs are imperative. We are losing our doctors. We must encourage competition with other facilities rather than be held hostage by NAH, who clearly have their own set of dysfunctions.

    We must remember that so many move to Sedona for its beauty, hiking, and small town charm. Bigger, faster, and more concrete does not, in broad strokes, fit the ethos of Sedona.

    The old world must remain strong here in balance, as that is what visitors want to experience. Too many have noted that Sedona has lost its edge and charm.

    As Mayor I will preserve the rural charm of our community, and push back against the urbanization that is planned for Sedona.

    As mayor I will make it a priority to create opportunities to support our youth.  After school healthy, enriching programs should be created for our kids, and available to the Sedona workforce regardless of residency and regardless of school they belong to.

    As Mayor, I will create an agenda to deliberately embody the consciousness of our collective needs here, allowing private industry to meet the needs of our community rather than bigger government.

    I hope to have your vote on Aug 2nd. I am excited and have the energy to take on this leadership role with new eyes, community perspective, and the thoughtful consciousness that reflects all ages of the human spectrum.

    Thank you deeply for your consideration.

    Sincerely,

    Samaire Armstrong

    Sedona elections
    Armstrong vs. Jablow: The Main Event
    Ready to Rumble

    By Tommy Acosta
    In the Blue Corner stands Scott Jablow and in the Red Corner of the ring stands Samaire Armstrong, ready to rumble to the bitter end in their fight to become the next Sedona mayor. Jablow weighs in with 1,137 primary election votes (36.13%) under his belt, having wielded his advantage as sitting Sedona City Council vice-mayor to his favor. He brings his years of serving in that capacity into the fray and waged a solid fight in his campaign to make it to the run-off. Armstrong, however withstood a blistering smear campaign from the other opposing candidates and their supporters to make it to the final bout with 967 votes under her belt (30.73%), an amazing feat for a political newcomer. Unfortunately, for the other two candidates, Kurt Gehlbach and sitting mayor Sandy Moriarty, neither put up enough of a fight to make it to the championship bout. Read more→
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