Renee Aubuchon

“Poetry has been a part of my life since I wrote my first poem when I was five years old. I have published some poems in poetry journals and have taught creative writing.  I taught creative writing to eighth graders on the Hoopa Reservation.  Students read some of their poems over the local tribal radio station. We also published a journal of their poems and stories.  When I was working in the Sierra foothills I taught creative writing to continuation school students. I created an author’s web page for each one of them on the internet with their picture, a bio, and a sample of their writing.  During my long work career these projects brought me the most joy.”

Poem

BELONGING

When I close my eyes
And enter into the silence
I feel the one who watches
Who is always there observing.
This is where I belong.

When I realize that the place
Where I was before I was born
Is the same as where I go
After I die.
This is where I belong.

When I am alone in a forest
Listening to the tall trees whisper to me
That they know me.
That we are family.
This is where I belong.

When I look into your eyes
And I see the Holy essence.
When I feel your love and mine
Merge in ecstatic recognition.
This is where I belong.

When I feel the pulse of the stars
And yet am rooted upon the earth
I surrender to YES!
I know all life to be an eternal flame.
This is where I belong.

Copyright © 2022 by Renee Aubuchon. Used with permission of the author.

Civic Engagement

A retired Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), Renee Aubuchon’s career in mental health services began in San Mateo County in 1970 when she started volunteering with a youth peer counseling program called Damien House. She is a graduate of the San Mateo County Citizens Academy and served for awhile on the County Mental Health Advisory Board.  

She lived on the Hoopa Reservation in the 1980s, and was a volunteer with the Hoopa Health diabetic treatment team. She was also a volunteer DJ with tribal radio station KIDE, and taught poetry to middle schoolers and continuation school students. She collected her students’ poems in an anthology, and distributed copies locally on the reservation.