Synkroniciti is glad to welcome back poet Diane Funston with “Without Drowning.” Diane has a wonderful way of painting a place with words–in this case we are oceanside and feel the rhythm of the surf, the clouds darkening in preparation for rain. She begins: “I tell of the mountains and the sea Those back home know neither No curiosity to learn So I suffer alone again.”As we read on, the loneliness of separation is tinged with relief at being freed from conformity. Why is it human nature to feel competitive and jealous when confronted with someone’s honest, unchecked wonder? This is why there are so many valuable, beautiful attributes stuck deep in our shadow-selves–someone made us feel we had to keep them secret. We may be enraptured by nature, art or some other aspect of Being and find our moment of delight cut short by active non-curiosity (this goes far beyond ignorance) in our neighbors or within our family. Sometimes we learn to silence ourselves internally, creating personas that don’t resemble ourselves for the people around us. This creates suffering.
Read Diane’s deeply vulnerable poem in the upcoming “Curiosity” issue, now available for pre-order here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/. The issue drops on June 1st, online only.
Diane Funston writes poetry of nature and human nature. She co-founded a women’s poetry salon in San Diego, created a weekly poetry gathering in the high desert town of Tehachapi, CA and most recently has been the Yuba-Sutter Arts and Culture Poet-in-Residence for the past two years. It is in this role she created Poetry Square, a monthly online venue that features poets from all over the world reading their work and discussing creative process.
Diane has been published in Synkroniciti, California Quarterly, Whirlwind, San Diego Poetry Annual, Summation, and quite a few other literary journals. Her first chapbook, Over the Falls was published this July 2022 from Foothills Publishing.
Diane is also a visual artist in mosaic, wool felting, and collage. Her pieces have been in galleries in the Sacramento Valley.