Feathers in a Panama Hat

Written By Jessica Plante-Curl

Driving West in Search of a New Me: An Essay Excerpt

In July of 2016 I drove from Tallahassee, Florida to Pagosa Springs, Colorado to a Buddhist temple called Tara Mandala. I was going there to participate in a Tibetan healing practice called Chöd — and I was going there broken.

I was forty-four years old, freshly heartbroken, with feathers stuck into the brim of my Panama hat and prayers flying out my open car windows over the red earth of New Mexico. I didn't know yet who I was becoming. I just knew I needed to begin again.

Read more and follow me at: https://thispoetsdesk.substack.com

Jessica Plante-Curl

Jessica Plante-Curl (previously published as Ösel Jessica Plante) is the author of Waveland (Black Lawrence Press, 2021) and a two-time Best New Poets selection. She holds a PhD in Poetry from Florida State University and is the recipient of the 2024 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship. She is currently at work on her memoir, Oh Honey...You're Not Crazy, and lives in Portland, Oregon.

https://oseljessicaplante.com
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