Celebrating Living Poets: Lauren Camp

Throughout the month of March, I have been celebrating a different living poet each day by taking lines of their existing poetry and rearranging them into new poems called Centos. Today’s living poet is one that I was blessed to hear as part of the Stafford Challenge monthly guest speakers. Lauren Camp was the Grand Canyon’s Astronomer in Residence and a New Mexico Poet Laureate. She read from a couple of her books, including In Old Sky and shared of her theme of darkness and how it is often misperceived.

You can read about Lauren Camp, along with her poetry, here. If I were writing an introduction to my slice I am envisioning for March 31, today’s poem would set the stage.

Voices of the Poets from Center Circle

Many of our people have lived

Nothing is insignificant, but I know the room

Where the center is

is this truth

is, the future

let that vision be as large as creation

Lines for this Cento were taken from these poems, in this order: Diminishing Echo; Reclaiming Perspective; Bluest; Into this Absence; Prognosis; Fear of.

Celebrating Living Poets: Victoria Hutchins


We are nearly halfway through the Slice of Life Challenge 2026, and I can’t believe how quickly we are moving! I’m enjoying all the things I’m learning from bloggers all around the world and connecting with them through the power of words.

I’ve sent both my daughters a copy of Make Believe: poems for hoping again by Victoria Hutchins. It’s one of those poetry collections that right from the first page, you’re nodding in agreement with full head movement even if you’re in a room all alone. You have full conversations with Victoria, as if she were your best friend or even your sister. After you read each poem, it’s your turn to reply, and you do – – imagining she is right there at the table with a cup of coffee, wearing pajamas and eating a Mason jar of overnight oats while you chat the morning away with her in your head.

Victoria Hutchins rose to poetic fame on Instagram and TikTok. You can listen to an interview with her and read more about her here. Hutchins offers hope and encouragement in dark days through each poem.

Listen

At first, I didn’t recognize her.

Almost everyone is a stranger until you zoom in or pan out.

The life of it has hollow eyes.

That’s the thing about imaginary friends.

That’s by design.

Listen closely and maybe you’ll realize – it isn’t your voice.

Taken from these poems, in this order: god on Main Street; panda aspen grove; is the party dead already?; god as imaginary friend; blindside; whose hate did you swallow?

Sneak peek of books for days 10-20