KATHLEEN O'KULA
...was born in Philadelphia, PA when dinosaurs roamed the subways in NYC. She left the nest to explore the underbelly of the world at an early age. Educated in social work at SUNY- Albany and Fordham, she worked in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Buffalo, NY.
At Iona College, her last endeavor before coming to RI, she was the Director of Mission Integration. Here in RI, she worked in two agencies and has been an active advocate for youth. Now Kate does organizational development consulting and coaching.
Upon locating her Piscean soul close to the Bay, Kate began writing more frequently: She studied creative writing in workshops and classes, including children’s lit at RISD, Ocean State Writer’s Conferences at URI, the International Women Writers’ Guild, Frequency Providence, the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, etc.
Memberships include the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Poetry Foundation, the Clear Heart Sangha, and the Ocean State Poets, where she serves on the board as a founding member.
She is First Mate to Kevin Culley, Captain of the Windborne, located in North Kingstown, RI. She has yet to come face to face with a dinosaur of the non-human variety.
At Iona College, her last endeavor before coming to RI, she was the Director of Mission Integration. Here in RI, she worked in two agencies and has been an active advocate for youth. Now Kate does organizational development consulting and coaching.
Upon locating her Piscean soul close to the Bay, Kate began writing more frequently: She studied creative writing in workshops and classes, including children’s lit at RISD, Ocean State Writer’s Conferences at URI, the International Women Writers’ Guild, Frequency Providence, the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, etc.
Memberships include the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Poetry Foundation, the Clear Heart Sangha, and the Ocean State Poets, where she serves on the board as a founding member.
She is First Mate to Kevin Culley, Captain of the Windborne, located in North Kingstown, RI. She has yet to come face to face with a dinosaur of the non-human variety.
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The Ginko Walk
The fiddle head fern uncurls herself fret by fret, reaching toward a distant star hovering high in the shadows. A nearby acorn bursts through winter worn shell implanting his pent up core downward, toward the roots of the oaks creating shadows. Shameless in naked yearnings, both yield to the God within the sun, however feeble, within the earth, however cold within my eyes, however blind. |
The Amaranth
Early May breezes carry a trace of April -- a bit of chill underneath the warmth. They spill sunlight, ruffle your soft-smelling hair. Here, a world away from trouble, flowers dance to wind chimes and, in this unspoiled place, we pick petals and blooms, put them behind our ears, smile into the camera, capture a moment. May arrives in Aleppo as well; flowers are a long gone memory. Today shrapnel exploded a five year old child, his sweetness vaporized into swirls of grey dust tinged pink, and, once settled, revealed him to be everywhere. His mother, his father, the Imam, their neighbors pick pieces of his flesh from shattered walls and shards of living to put in a vase to put in a grave while a world’s grief, in resonant timbre plays over and over — an amaranthine melody searching for a new world where the barbarous are uprooted and nascent innocence is nurtured, where love-lies-not-bleeding. |