Jennifer Lighty
poet * storyteller * writer
About Jennifer Lighty
"Jen Lighty is a guide, a priestess, a mythologist, a story-teller and a scholar, Jen has spent her life preparing for her work helping others achieve transformation into their own beauty–that is, she re-introduces people to themselves and their own sacred journeys. I never understood the concept of ‘finding one’s teacher’ until I began to walk the path with Jen toward clarity, toward compassion, toward the light." -Lisa Starr, former RI Poet Laureate
Piko: A Return To The Dreaming
Coming Soon
A cry from the edge between land and sea to reawaken the indigenous soul in humanity. Barraged with alarming statistics and dire predictions about the fate of humanity as the Anthropocene Age causes social and environmental devastation, we are all suffering from collective trauma. Most of us are numb, overwhelmed by the assault of despair offered to us on the nightly news in sound bites.
This book is an attempt to break the enchantments of cynicism and shame that keep us chained to an apocalyptic fate by returning to the world's source, known in Hawaiian as the "piko," or navel.
Beginning April 1, 2021 (Fool's Day), for 21 days I sat at the edge of a small anchialine pond in the Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau, the Place of Refuge, on Moku o Keawe, The Big Island, and told stories to the water from many cultures: Hawaiian, Haitian, Irish, Inuit, Greek, Sumerian, and Shinto. I opened my senses. I watched. I listened. I smelled, touched and tasted. I felt...and I wrote. This personal narrative weaves my lived experience of trauma with observations on the climate crisis, ecocide, the legacy of colonialism in Hawai’i, the 17 traditional stories I spoke to the elements, and the transcendent wisdom that arose from the depths of this sacred exchange.
Praise for "Breaking Up With The Moon"
"She's done with the borrowed light of the moon. She's trying to see the real world beyond her now projections. Thirsty, she moves toward greater thirst. Hungry, she enters a deeper hunger. She's trying to get lost enough to find her self. And all the while she transforms her struggle into these wonderful, delicious poems. This book is a feast."
-Li-Young Lee