Sarah Joy Thompson, "Uprooted Orchid"
Schedule
Wed, 21 Jan, 2026 at 05:30 pm
UTC-06:00Location
306 Pearl Pkwy Ste 106, San Antonio, TX, United States, Texas 78215 | San Antonio, TX
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An "Uprooted Orchid" touches on the power of words as medicine to navigate grief or illnesses that have disrupted home and family life. The speaker processes her father's health complications from pulmonary disease and shortly after her own diagnosis - aggressive breast cancer. This collection of poetry is about feeling the emotional and physical weight of losing - a loved one, a breast - but also about celebrating family and "the magic in ordinary/ bits and fragments of everyday life".The poems serve as an ode to facing difficult journeys, "Dear Warrior, you are more than/ what happens to your body on the outside", while acknowledging every obstacle in the climb away from the gray area of grief, "Even a crystal doesn't do much in the dark/ until you hold her up to the beauty of day/ and watch her refract the light/ rainbow after rainbow".
Sit with these manifestations of light during difficult times, when some wounds are slow to heal. Find the glimmer in post-surgery screening of the self or taking the last prescription pills in a regiment of medication. Step into the awakening that comes with simply cherishing every moment and the second chance of healing.
Sarah Joy Thompson is a Filipina-American poet and the author of three poetry books, including “The Everyday, the Mundane, and the Brave” (Finishing Line Press, 2019), “Driving into Black Mountains” (FlowerSong Press, 2020), and “Uprooted Orchid” (FlowerSong Press, 2025). In 2021, Sarah Joy was a co-editor for “Boundless”, the official anthology of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso.
In her recent work, Sarah Joy explores poetry and movement to navigate the gray area of grief, loss, illness, and embodying change. The confessional aspects of her poetry often serve as an essential form of therapy for tough journeys. Words have the power to turn our attention inward, and guide us to sit with the stillness no matter the level of discomfort. By leaning into the healing process, the body can find true rest and self-compassion.
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Where is it happening?
306 Pearl Pkwy Ste 106, San Antonio, TX, United States, Texas 78215Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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