I arrived at Civitella having recently published my first poetry collection a few months before and expected to begin writing new poems and revising drafts I’d brought with me. While I did write and revise some poems, what I really experienced, however, was much more profound. The time and space afforded by the residency, coupled with the beauty of the surroundings, the staff, and the food, were both restorative and generative. Freed from the pressure of producing work allowed me to plumb new and unexpected depths in my creative life from which I am certain new and unanticipated work is already emerging.