The Coeur d'Alene Poet Laureate program increases awareness of the role that poetry and literature play in the community and creates a record of Coeur d’Alene’s distinctive character.  Along with offering readings and workshops, the Poet Laureate writes poems for the city that are reflective of local landscapes, social situations, or important events.

Early October

This illuminated day, illuminated

leaf you choose from the pile

a scattering of

light green and dark,

corn-yellow, lantern, blood-red, but this

            golden one, summer sun and winter candle

held in your hand. Elliptic as the curve of the lake

touching the sand.

The season has sung the beach back

quiet. Only chickadees toddle,

trying all the forgotten berries.

A flicker stills in a snag

and then drops, old swoop, cloud-heavy,

its white pressed back something other. All the draws I’ve walked alone

lit by this overwintering bird and the friend that taught me to sing them.

A city can be a friend. Its peripheries endure us.

The sun slides across the half surface of each thing begging for bounce.

Sometimes I see this thin old woman walking on Government Way,

some days she is all sadness, a crumpled glove, but yesterday she strolled,

a biscuit in her hand,

the sun washing her face,

her grey hair holding every warmth

the entire city her home.

We return, my son and I, to the leaves piled in their little gully

damp divide, sidewalk, cut grass.

We pocket the most perfect. These will be suncatchers

in the window when the dark comes.

These will be illuminated – the way you say the word, so many small syllables

rounding in your toddler mouth –

our home catching.

                                    - Jennifer Passaro, Coeur d’Alene Poet Laureate
                                      9 October 2024, 28th Mayor's Awards in the Arts

Jennifer Passaro earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Montana in 2011, with a focus on creative writing, particularly poetry from the western United States, and Native American literature and cultural studies.  She also minored in Wilderness and Civilization, participated in writing workshops---including a graduate-level poetry course and multiple advanced poetry workshops---and performed in undergraduate poetry readings. Most recently, Jennifer has been a writing instructor at Emerge, where she led poetry workshops and performed at events like Lit Crawl CDA, among others.  Her diverse experiences include working as a reporter for the Coeur d’Alene Press and serving as a U.S. Ranger at the Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana.  She has contributed to the Sandpoint Reader and the Easy Reader Newspapers, as well as published six creative writing pieces, including two this year: Looking for Metaphor, Here and Winter Solstice at Waldorf.