A Wilmette resident read three of her poems at a Writers Conference

A Wilmette resident read three of her poems at a Chicago Writers Conference. Poet Jerilyn Elise Miripol attended the “Let’s Just Write!” Chicago Writers Association conference in Chicago over the weekend from March 21 to 23, 2025.

The annual conference was held at the Warwick Allerton Hotel on Michigan Avenue. Miripol said, “There were such accomplished writers at this workshop. I enjoyed the exchange of information.”

Miripol read three of her poems titled, “Over the Nimbus, Cumulus, Cirrus”, and “Blood White”, along with “El Norte”. The first two poems that she read were about the loss of her husband, Professor Richard Van Duyne. Miripol estimates she has written over 1500 poems.

Miripol has lived in Wilmette since 1980 and has published three books of her poetry, one that is available on Amazon.

"A Complete Mute-Light" was published on Amazon. Her newest poetry book, "Disc of the Sun" was published in Canada by Guernica Publications. She received a fellowship in 1985 at The Ragdale Foundation. Miripol was accepted to The Aspen Writer's Workshop, The Squaw Valley Community of Writers in Olympic Valley, California where she studied with poet Sandra McPherson; The Breadloaf Writer's Conference in Middlebury, Vermont; She was invited to study with Pulitzer-prize winning poet Lisle Mueller at The University of Indiana in Bloomington. Miripol studied with Pierre DeLattre at the Split Rock Writer's Conference in Duluth, Minnesota. Her poetry was published in a mental-health textbook "Group Psychotherapy: Practice and Development" by Baruch Levine Ph.D published by Prentice-Hall. She was invited to join PEN America and PEN South Africa. Miripol was a nominee of the Danforth Foundation while in university. She taught writing-therapy in the psychology department at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston for over 35 years helping some students who were on psychological disability: SSDI, Medicare, Medicaid, HUD or Section eight housing. Miripol educated prisoners through the mail at Lexington, Kentucky, Joliet Prison and The Pontiac Correctional Center in Illinois. She now teaches Literacy for Adults (immigrants) through Oakton Community College twice a week. In 2010, Miripol received a grant from District 65 in Evanston to teach poetry in Lynn Hyndmann’s fifth-grade class at Dawes School where she created a book of their poetry which is located in The Evanston Library.

Miripol would like to share her poem, “Over the Nimbus, Cumulus, Cirrus” with Patch readers.

Solitude,

Lost within

The red fluid

Deep, stored in my cells,

A nucleus

When you left me

Within the ether

The coming clouds,

The semen,

Your source that was within me,

You left the earth

And its delights,

I still cannot find myself,

You left me

For the better life

Over the clouds, cumulus,

Cirrus, nimbus,

You left me.

I am still stuck,

Lost,

Searching this earth, the loam

And the estuary,

Looking, looking for you

My love,

The clouds burst—the rain.