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Black Swamp Newsletter

By Katie Thompson

A pair of two handcrafted Japaense Mukomachi Nomi mortise chisels on a wood backdrop.
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Black Swamp Newsletter - January 8, 2025

January 8, 2025 New Orleans in My Heart New Orleans has been at the forefront of our hearts and minds after the terrible attack that took place there on New Year’s Day. New Orleans is a special place. It’s full of physical, elemental energy where the great Mississippi River meets the gulf. It’s also a unique bridge between worlds, cultures, and the spirits of those who call it home. Sinners and angels may walk amongst us everywhere, but I know for a fact that they do in New Orleans. My last...

A hand drawn sketch of a green winter wreath in colored pencil with red and brown accents.

January 1, 2025 Happy New Year!Wishing you and yours a safe and healthy start to 2025. Turning pages day by day.Immersed in history of the present.Your being the progression. -k. thompson, Being the Progression From the studio… I hope everyone has had a safe and happy holiday season! I took some much needed time off to enjoy with my family and am slowly easing into a refreshed creative flow to begin 2025. I needed to untether a bit in order to really rest and regenerate, but I am ready to get...

A smiling selfie of Katie sitting in her wheelchair in a hotel room.

December 18, 2024 We swim in the depths of darknessthe stream of light from above our only guide.Others wait at the water’s edgetoo afraid to do the hardest part jump in. We beckon from belowBut by design they must see for themselves.Only when you are in the depthsis it known. -k. thompson, Is It Known Advocacy Updates… This fall I decided to expand my meningitis advocacy efforts and joined two amazing organizations as a survivor advocate, the American Society for Meningitis Prevention (ASMP)...

A sunny morning on the banks of a lowcountry river.

December 11, 2024 Flittering like a leaf caught in an old cobwebon the side of a house desperately hanging onbut will eventually releaseand drift to the ground like old things in our livesthey cling until the season passesand nature finally makes us let go. -k. thompson, Until the Season Passes “$14.07 please,” says the cashier. I reach into my wallet remembering that I have a few spare coins to give even change. But then I stop. Do I even try? I feel that familiar rush of anxiety that tells...

A typewritten image of the poem Songs of Being

November 27, 2024 Words as lyricsnotes in the windpercussion of branchessoft grace of the leavessymphony in the quietsongs of being. -k. thompson, Songs of Being There was a time head pressed to a pillowwould bring despair.Now it brings comfort of acceptance.Finally think and beeven in bedeven in dreams.Words build worldsthrough voices and handscreating great wondersstories still told. -k. thompson, Stories Still Told My valueshould not liein what I createor can do.To sithonor the sunwatch...

A watercolor and charcoal paintng of a hand reaching for a vertebrae.

November 20, 2024 The Incentive Close enough it can be touchedthen pulled away.I fall in love with what I can’t live withoutso I have no choicebut to not give up.-k. thompson Self, NurturanceEnvelop me in pink silk,drape me in care only the feminine can provide.Lower my defenses scarred and scratched,soften to feel what I’ve always neededso I may finally give it to myself.-k. thompson So is Your Breath (mini poem) When concern becomes reality remember so is your breath. -k. thompson The...

The Black Swamp logo in black bold letters with a grey cypress tree icon in the center.

Small Contribution If only I could spend my days writing head buried in the empty pages of possibility I yearn so badly to share this beautiful existence some days I write furiously in spite of the short time we’re allotted. I know my contributions are small but true and every moment in appreciation of this life is worth sharing to preserve its beauty. -k. thompson Hello There! Welcome. I'm Katie, and I'm so pleased that you're here. As for me, I'm the owner and creator behind Black Swamp, a...