Becoming Poet Laureate of Bethel is an honor I hold with deep gratitude and intention. In 2026, poetry and storytelling will continue to find their way into shared spaces across our town, beginning with a monthly Poetry and Storytelling Open Mic on the first Tuesday of every month from 6:30–8:00 pm, starting February 3rd at Molten Java. Each evening will open with a featured poet—beginning with Bethel Poet Laureate Emeritus Rick Magee—followed by an open mic welcoming voices from across our community.

Sharing a poem, Lessons from the Wind, written for an ekphrastic poetry event held on November 1st, 2025, hosted by Danbury Poet Laureate Cheryl Panosian. The event featured 12 artists, 12 poets and was attended by over 75 people.  The event was a collaboration between Cheryl and Alma Faham, artist, architectural engineer and commissioner at Danbury Cultural Commission.

Ekphrastic poetry grows from visual art. It asks the poet to spend time with an image and respond with words—not by explaining it, but by entering into conversation with it.

I’m deeply grateful to have participated in this event and honored to serve as newly appointed Poet Laureate of Bethel. It is a privilege to share poetry that reflects our community and celebrates the many ways art connects us. I plan to collaborate with Cheryl in the next year on a very special event, to be announced when finalized.

‍

Lessons from the Wind was written in response to Doily, a painting by Sari Jabornik.  Photo courtesy of Cheryl Panosin.

Sarinka Jabornik is a Slovak-American painter and sculptor specializing in the study of the female experience and gender roles. Through sculptural mediums, such as steel, and glass, Jabornik aims to capture the essence of women’s powerful capabilities. She is graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Hartford Art School in 2026, and has become proficient in egg tempera, oil painting, illustration, glass blowing, glass casting, stone carving and welding. Several of her pieces have been a part of group exhibitions at the University of Hartford Art School such as the Gravamina installation art show and the Goldfarb Juried exhibition. She is an active member of the first Slovak Union and contributes her skills and energy into the community. In the future, Sarinka will pursue advocating for equal rights between genders and continue exploring the depths of society’s stereotyping and its harmful effects on women.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Lessons from the Wind

By Hannah Lipman

‍

How do I prepare myself
for inner wander?
I wonder.

There will be turbulence,
but first—beauty.

Tree-top leaves,
orange tipped, red bleeds to brown,
vermilion turns translucent,
They sway in air.

I walk softly beneath
their wind-driven applause.
Are they cheering me on?
I wonder, and wander inward.

I notice the distant pulse
of ancestral angst first—
an aura of invisible, antiquated anxiety
carried through my blood and bones.

More unravels,
and I dissolve to nothing.

‍
All the living, dead, and not-yet-born
have looked—and will look—
at the same moon and sun.

Let’s start there,
the wind whispers.

Only then will you have a chance
to retire the patterns
that no longer serve you.

I see myself
give who I once was
a hug beneath the moon.

We wait,
for the sun to rise.

‍

Play the Slideshow