Since 2021, Dr. Guertin and Betsy Wilkening have been masterfully blending fiber art with critical scientific topics like global warming, climate change, and environmental threats, all while offering potential solutions. In 2024, Dr. Decker proposed an innovative expansion: a multimodal ekphrastic project that pairs powerful poetry with evocative art.

 

This book is the stunning result. You'll find a diverse array of artwork—from exquisite fiber art quilts to compelling drawings, paintings, and even museum pieces—each carefully selected to illuminate the theme of "making the unseen, seen" and to forge a powerful connection between science and art through the medium of poetry.

 

We strongly encourage you to delve into the Artist/Scientist Statements at the back of the book. These illuminating insights provide brief, accessible explanations that enhance the thoughtful poems, making complex scientific topics relatable and engaging for everyone.

 

It has been a true joy to bring this project to life. We hope you'll return to these pages again and again, discovering new layers of meaning with each reading.

 

Contributors to this book include: Donald Beagle, Emily Bilman, Joyce Brinkman, Sarah-Beth Bradley, Megan Brown, Emma M. Burkett, Samantha Carr, Joan Ellen Casey, Loralee Clark, Tricia Coulson, Marcela Bianchessi da Cunha-Santino, Dr. Kathleen P. Decker, Zoey Dudding, Jae Dyche, Christie King Eckardt , Kerry Faraone, Catalina Florina Florescu, Anna Isabella Fratarcangelo, Chapman Hood Frazier, Dennis Owen Frohlich, Gail Giewont, Dr. Michale Glennon, Marjorie Gowdy, Jody Gruendel, Dr. Laura Guertin, Cathy Hailey, Lauren Haygood, Kate Hedstrom, Wayne David Hubbard, Mark Hudson, Piper Jameson, Robert J. Keeler, Dr. Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Barbara Martina Linde, Sally Harcum Maxwell, Greg McNamara, Susan Copley Novack, Holly Panzera, Sarah Parker, Tessa Peixoto, Suzanne Underwood Rhodes, Lynne Schreiber, Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Ron Smith, Alica Swain, Johannes Vermeer, Betsy Wilkening, Diana Woodcock, Nicole Zwolinski.

This book is a compilation of American-style Japanese poetry written by George Mason students in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Program Summer, 2025.We first took on a “finish-the-haiku” challenge to break the ice. I wrote the first two lines, and invited participants to write a third line to link to the first two, and shift the scene and complete a haiku. We did another fun exercise later in the course where we took our original “finish-the-haiku” snowy mountain haiku and added two longer lines to make them into tanka, to introduce the concept of tanka, with fun results!

Subsequent sections of this book were created as participants gained familiarity with haiku and tanka writing forms. They launched their own forays, exploring nature with haiku, and wrote senryu on the subject of global warming. Then they added human connections through tanka.The final phase of the course centered on crafting collaborative Shisan Renku (12-link) renku in groups of 3-4 poets, using traditional Japanese guidelines. These include: use of all four seasons in the poem, using each season only once, including a moon verse, a blossom verse, and two love verses. The love links must represent two different types of love.

As with all renku poems, each verse must link to the previous, yet shift to another topic. The poem must not be a narrative, nor tell a coherent story, which was initially a challenge for Western poets. Ultimately, their Shisan renku creations are a wonderful set of poems that crowned our weeks together!

It turns out we had many gifted photographers to illustrate our poems, as well. Please enjoy this creative endeavor as much as we did creating it!
~Dr. Kathleen P. Decker, Editor and Instructor