Sitting on the porch of her home in The Hamlet at Flat Rock, Karen Luke Jackson thinks often about a life that has its roots in the small south Georgia town of her childhood. Those roots would eventually blossom into a long career as a college administrator, accomplished retreat facilitator, and most recently in the latest chapter of her life, as a poet and author.

Ten years ago, Karen probably never imagined herself being recognized as an award-winning poet and author. However, Karen’s rich life experiences, her ability to insightfully explore the human experience, and her heart for uncovering the sacred mystery of the seemingly ordinary moments in our lives have led her to publish a trio of acclaimed poetry collections over the past four years.

Her latest book, If You Choose to Come, was described by a fellow poet:

… the poems offer a meditative approach to observations with lush descriptions and a musician’s ear for sonic structure. Jackson is skillful at contemplating the ordinary until we see a flash of the magical. Her book is indeed an invitation and one that I will say yes to again and again.

Malaika King Albrecht

At her core, Karen Luke Jackson is a story catcher who draws upon contemplative practices, oral history, and the natural world for inspiration.

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Karen Jackson (left) as a child with her family in Ocilla, Georgia.

Karen’s journey to published author began in her childhood hometown of Ocilla, GA. It was there that a large extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins – her mother was one of eight children - swirled around her childhood. Living in that small rural community, Karen recalls a lot of farm chores and tending to gardens. Those earliest memories would inform her life and later become the subject of much of her poetry. “Ocilla is the source because I was formed by that landscape, by that place, by the longleaf pine ecosystem,” she explains.

Gradually, the idyllic setting of her young childhood was revealed for the hard-scrabble existence it was –steeped in the hard truth of the Jim Crow South of the 50s and 60s. Following her high school graduation, Karen was ready to see more of the world. She wrote about her desire to leave Ocilla in her poem, Taking My Leave.

No more too big for your britches,
bless your heart, keep quiet.
…
Adios to Uncle Roger’s pond, Mama squealing when you reeled in
A bass, and to Uncle Buck’s Phantom of the Opera face
…
Black-eyed peas that could not see
and okra cut in pre-dawn light to lessen its sting, I was your
fair-haired child until I opened my eyes.

Now you no longer
see me.

Karen references one of her favorite poets, David White, when talking about her childhood home. “We always carry with us the landscape and family and the place we were born into. No matter how hard we might try to get away from it.” Even after spending her entire adult life in North Carolina, a half-century later the ties to her South Georgia home remain strong.

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Karen left Ocilla to major in history at Valdosta State University and then went to work at the Southern Historical Collection in Chapel Hill. She later earned a master's in education from UNC-Chapel Hill and would eventually earn a doctorate in education from North Carolina State University.

In 1980, she and her young family moved to Hendersonville and in 1988 she took a job at Blue Ridge Community College as a fundraiser with the BRCC Foundation. Later she moved into strategic planning and institutional effectiveness. She spent a total of 12 years with Blue Ridge and by her own admission was on track to ultimately become a community college president. But her heart had other plans and she found herself increasingly drawn to a different calling. “I was going to monasteries on the side and always had a real call into some kind of ministry.”

Karen leading a Circle of Trust Retreat at the Sanctuary at Highland Lake

At a pivotal moment in her life, Karen met Parker Palmer who was a Quaker and an educator doing a lot of work that was at the intersection of community education and spirituality. Palmer was speaking to teachers at the Kanuga Conference Center on ways to connect their career and their souls in the classroom. Karen was immediately struck by what she heard. “I went up to him and I said, ‘I think this is the work I'm supposed to be doing.’”

It was this experience that led Karen to eventually step away from her career track in the community college system to pursue an entirely new calling. Karen would end up joining the Center for Courage and Renewal, which was founded by Palmer, and she served there as a facilitator for nearly 25 years. During that time, Karen worked with educators, nonprofit leaders, chaplains, and other professionals around the topic of “vocational call.” At the Center, she designed programs and led retreats. “I met incredible people in all professions and made lifelong friendships… and it changed me.”

Karen liked the changes she saw in herself. “I became a little less rigid and judgmental if I’m being totally honest. I was known around the college as ‘pleasantly persistent,’” she recalls with a laugh. Her work at the Center frequently involved facilitating conversations between people of different faiths and spiritual experiences. “People from different faith traditions could share their truths without criticism and also honor the people with them. That was like witnessing miracles to me.” Ultimately, Karen described her work as being a companion to people on their spiritual journey.

As it turned out, Karen was on as much of a journey as the people she worked with. “They were companioning me too. Parker Palmer calls it ‘being alone together.’ It's work we have to do alone - and cannot do it unless we are in the company of others doing the same work.”

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Karen’s first book of poetry honored her late sister

Karen frequently used poetry during her work as a facilitator for the Center to help her clients open up and discuss the major issues in their lives. Again, her work had a profound impact on the course of her own life. “Because I was using so much poetry and reading so much poetry, I began writing my own poetry.”

In 2016, Karen’s beloved sister Janis died after a battle with cancer. Janis had also been battling severe depression throughout her life but found her calling in Ocilla as “Clancey the Clown.” Janis’s alter ego, Clancey, was dearly loved in Ocilla and after her death, Karen heard repeatedly from the people of Ocilla just how much Janis meant to the citizens of the small town. “She would absolutely brighten other people's day. What she did for other people and the joy she spread in the world and the comfort she gave was amazing considering what she herself dealt with.”

Karen had been taking classes in writing with the UNCA's Great Smokies Writing Program and that experience along with Janis’s death eventually resulted in her first collection of poems which is a deeply personal homage to her late sister. Although the book started as a memoir, poetry repeatedly found its way onto Karen’s pages, and she soon realized that poetry was her “voice”.

Janis as Clancey the Clown (Left) with her sister karen as Spunky the Clown

“Every time I would go home to help care for my parents, people would tell me these stories about Janis. So, I just caught their stories in my poems.” Story by story, poem by poem, the book took form and Karen published her first book of poetry entitled “Grit” in 2020. As described by one reviewer, Karen’s first book is “…part tribute, part exploration, (that) delves beneath the clown costume and laughter in the heart of a complex woman.” Karen’s poem, Clown Shoes, is in the voice of Janis’s shoes:

Clown Shoes

You should’ve seen that gal
when she tried us on
at the dealer’s table,
waving her arms like a windmill,
tripping over our laces, falling

forward. She soon steadied, strode with
a lopping gait, our
flopping toes boxes
a world of rainbows and crayoned hearts
that delighted children. With each goofy

step, her real heart cracked
open, inch by inch
wearing her out, us too.
She was buried in her clown costume,
barefoot, We still live in her walk-in closet.

--

Karen’s latest book features a cover photo of "Little Pisgah September Sunrise" by her son, Jonathan Jackson.

The onset of COVID in 2020 altered Karen’s relationship with the Center as retreats were canceled and she had very limited opportunities for in-person interaction with clients. As has been true for so many, the pandemic allowed Karen to reevaluate what she wanted to do with her life. The answer was pretty clear – continue writing. Since her first book, Karen has published two additional collections of poetry – The View Ever Changing in 2021 and just this year she published her latest work, If You Choose to Come.

Despite her relatively short writing career, Karen has already amassed a number of awards and accolades. She’s been published in numerous journals and magazines and also co-edited The Story Mandala: Finding Wholeness in a Divided World. Through it all, it is Karen’s hope that her words will provide healing and joy for her readers. “I really want to honor all of creation. From our childhood memories, all the way to this deep connection with the land and with the trees, and with the ancestors.”

Although a young Karen was anxious to leave Ocilla and the uncomfortable truths about the deep South of her childhood, she’s now made peace with her upbringing. In her poem, South Georgia Pilgrimage, she reveals a deeper understanding and appreciation of her hometown. “There were beautiful, wonderful things about my childhood, and then there were some really hard things,” says Karen. In the poem, she writes:

Not the usual site for a sacred journey,
No hordes to bump shoulders like those
In Jerusalem, Assisi, or Dharamshala.

Just me and a few other women searching for peace …

--

Beside a campfire, spirits
of ancestors hover –
Jim, Ella, Oscar, Odessa,
and ones I do not know—

folks may not believe it so
this brush against my shoulder,
whole body shiver,
whispering in my ear

Speak our names aloud.
We were once here.

--

Wiregrass Georgia was holy land,
the place they birthed and buried,
a flock of kin I fled
and to whom I have returned.

I remove a burnt marshmallow from
a stick, open my lips,
and receive the confection
like consecrated bread.

--

Karen with her son jonathan and daughter Kerri

Today, Karen enjoys her days living in Flat Rock in a community called “The Hamlet.” Her house backs up to a goat pasture and the pastoral setting energizes her and continues to inspire Karen’s writing. It is also the place where she recuperated from open heart surgery last year – a surgery performed on what would have been her late father’s 100th birthday. Taken together - her poetry, COVID, her surgery – events have conspired to help Karen shape a new perspective on her life and work. “I'm trying to live more without a big plan anymore. Trying to just wake up every morning absolutely thrilled to be alive.”

Karen Luke Jackson does have plans for another book, but she is not preoccupied with the task. For now, she is enjoying the blessings of a life well-lived and well-considered from the porch of her Flat Rock home. “If I don't produce another book, but I can create more love, caring, and kindness in the world, that would be enough.”

—

Porch Rhapsody
for Fay

The pianissimo roll begins, leaves rustling
in the stillness of a late, lazy afternoon, builds
until ferns and firs, oaks and locusts hum.
A breeze crescendos, then fades
into a drone, creates an undertone
for a bee buzzing overhead, the shrill caw
of a crow atop a hickory--
earth tuning up for evensong.
Now a fly sweeps by to add a grace note,
a lone bullfrog croaks. I would swear
a light rain is falling, but extend hand beyond eave
and prove myself wrong.

In all my years I have never
known such pleasure, save one morning,
when a redbird’s wing
brushed my cheek as she took flight.

-Karen Luke Jackson

Learn more about Karen Jackson at www.karenlukejackson.com

Read more of her poetry here: https://www.karenlukejackson.com/poems

Order Karen’s latest book, If You Choose to Come, here: https://redhawkpublications.com/If-You-Choose-to-Come-p577961287