Poet from the Pacific Northwest, author of Learning to Breathe
Cindy Buchanan was raised in Alaska, has a B.A. in English from Gonzaga University, and taught preschool until she retired. She studies poetry at Hugo House in Seattle, Washington where she currently lives, and is a member of two monthly poetry groups. She is a lifelong learner and writer, a (slow) runner and hiker, and a beginning student of Buddhism. Her work has been published in Chestnut Review, Evening Street Review, The MacGuffin, Hole in the Head Review, and other journals.
Without belonging, souls become weightless.
Without belonging, souls fade, dissipate
like an exhalation on a frosty winter morning.
from "Unacceptable," Learning to Breathe
Learning to Breathe
Coming September 15th, 2023 from Finishing Line Press.
Listen
Cindy Buchanan reads “A Gift of Bougainvillea Blossoms” for Chestnut Review.
Fear Less
with gratitude to Pema Chodron
This morning when I stepped onto the familiar path, the wild north wind
met me with her sleeted breath, stung my eyes, numbed my ears, promised
me stories uncomfortable, unwanted. I howled back, believing her, pushed
myself against her too—without effect—until I shifted
opened wide my arms and bid the wind climb in so I might trace
her hidden face, soothe and call her by my name, and offer
a different story: thanks for her sure song
thanks for coming one more day.