The Bellingham poet C.J. Prince passed on today. She was beyond inspiring to all and full of life! She was a giving person who supported community. C.J. shared her craft of writing, taught Tai Chi, and collected different types of semiprecious stones because they spoke to her. She had excellent knowledge regarding social manners and appearances. She was organized and driven. C.J. was warm and kind; her stories and jokes lit up a room.
Often, I would cross paths with people who either knew C.J. or knew of her. She was well known in both Bellingham and Vancouver, and every person always had a kind word to say about her. I learned later in our friendship that she had an international reputation beyond writing. We first met in 2011 when she was well into retirement. C.J. once shared with me that before retirement, she and her husband were stage performers. Later, in their careers, they became what she called “fixers.” If a theatre production was having problems, they would fly the two of them out. Organizing public poetry events with her in World Peace Poets, I recognized she was a pro. Locking into the trouble spots, emphasizing and adjusting the main message. I would describe her as a gentle leader who walks shoulder to shoulder with the team.
From about 2013 to 2016, we created World Peace Poets Bellingham together with our “peace sisters”, Betty Scott and Carla Shafer. During COVID, she stayed engaged with the poetry community via Zoom. The pandemic created some distance between us. However, in January 2025, she reached out and asked if I would format and create a printable version of a chapbook for her to take to the printer. She had created a work of art for the cover along with two poems and wanted to share it with the world. I was delighted to help. It was especially meaningful to reacquaint myself with her contagious positive energy and fervor.
Below is her poem Post Election Blues 2024. Much like the public reading for Renee Good in January 2026, I post C.J.’s work in her honor and wish her well and safe travels on her next journey. Condolences to the family during this difficult time. Blessed be.
POST ELECTION BLUES 2024
by C.J. Prince
No “Bloody Hell”
Just a roaring
“NOOOOOOO”
every four-letter word
ya know.
Day after election
Results
a tarot card volunteers
leaps:
The Tower
Louder, the red voters
Sneered, “YES!”
louder, stumbling
red and blue into
a bruised purple
but yes by only 1.2%
not a mandate
Destruction
to the old regime
is this how we get there?
A new world
will not yet rise
a world mired
in soot and decay
and lies
ass-grabbing
worldwide plundering
give me give me
megivemeivemgiveme
gotchagotchagotcha
Who volunteered
to play the anti-christ?
It’s time to say
We’re FINE
To own the nightmares
To put Pollyanna
Down for a nap
Do not trifle
with warrior women.
carry on they say
it is what it is
they say
what’s it to ya?
it’s only castles burning
the old demented man,
they say.
yet shackled
by fear
no way
to break the chains
of tyranny
Vote I said
they did
yet not a mandate
only 1.2%
yet the liar won.
Friends,
did you really vote
vote for oligarchy?
Did you know what it was?
I don’t think you’ll like it.
Did you understand?
Now, you haveta deal with it.
The blind hurricane
closed her eye
we call her name
the crone hangs obituaries
prayer flags
on her clotheslines
shannon p. laws 