When I was invited to be Cherry Hill's very first Artist-in-Residence, I didn't know quite what to expect, but I did know that I was eager and excited to become part of this vital (in both sense of the word-- vibrant and necessary--) community.

I'm happy to say that I did feel part of the community, early on, when Wendy Griffin told me she had used my solstice poem in one of her rituals.   

Soon after, I was invited to work on an extensive and ambitious project, writing a series of chants for Sabbat rituals to be used in prisons.  This is just the kind of important work I had hoped to be doing at CHS.   

I also appreciated that I was holding this position when my great and inspiring friend Patricia Monaghan died, so that I could post a poem in tribute to her. Near the end of my residency, I taught an Insights class and got to know some of the extraordinary CHS students more closely.  I was deeply impressed by their educational and life journeys and humbled to be part of their deeper understanding of poetry.

How has the experience of being artist-in-residence changed me?  Over these two years, I became much more comfortable being "out" as a witch  (to the point of launching americanwitch.com), and I credit some of that confidence to the gentle, invisible support of the CHS community during my time here.   

In my two years as CHS's "official poet," I also came to appreciate anew both the fierce, delicious independence of pagans and the depths of the intellectual, social, and spiritual forces that bring us together.

I am grateful and honored to have been the first in what I am sure will become a thriving and important series of artists in residence.  

I'm grateful to CHS for choosing me and am looking forward to staying in touch and working on other projects together.

Blessed be!  Annie