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• Please send a check to ONCA, P.O. Box 35812 Tulsa, OK 74153-0812
• Drop off your donation at the host desk in the Visitors’ Center at Oxley

Sasha Martin is an award-winning author and poet who explores the relationship between oneself and the world and how humans develop a sense of belonging despite adversity. In her work, she emphasizes nature as a healing influence.

Martin plans to create a series of poems that will explore human needs such as love, belonging, wholeness, and harmony. The collection will be called "Trail and Terminus" and will consist of interactive visual poems related to stops along the trail system of Oxley Nature Center. The goal of these poems is to deepen the hiker's connection with the environment and themselves. The project will also include an art book that serves as a trail guide, containing Martin’s original poetry and space for hikers to write their own reflections.

“Nature is where I go to understand myself and the world, and my poetry attempts to give voice to the healing and wonder that so often happens on the trail. As Oxley Nature Center'd artist-in-residence, I look forward to developing a new poetry series drawn directly from Oxley's unique ecosystem, as it relates to our primary emotional needs and mental wellness, while inviting visitors to join me on this journey of self-discovery through monthly Wild Voice workshops.”

Martin's memoir, "Life From Scratch" was published by National Geographic and named "Best New Book" and "Book Club Pick" in People Magazine. She has received several fellowships, residencies, and awards and teaches workshops and classes across the country. Martin holds a B.A. in English and French Studies from Wesleyan University and attended the Culinary Institute of America, where she was an MFK Fisher scholar and editor of the journal La Papillote. Her work has been featured on NPR, Food & Wine, O: The Oprah Magazine, and others. She lived in France and Luxembourg for six years before making Tulsa her home.

 “Home” 

I have been searching for home

longer than I dare say;

house after house, ill-fitting,

someone else's borrowed dress.

It is high noon and I am

just now shifting

these outstretched hands

over my own heart;

just now realizing

everything, everything

is a child of soil and sky's romance;

every horizon, an embrace.

At fifteen, shattering

in an abandoned house,

the long night a blindfold,

I could not see Great Mother

I could not see Great Father;

A steady horizon, unimaginable

—but even then, there was the River Seine,

shushing: soft, the home that never breaks.

Now, Oklahoma storms do the singing:

Hail, damaging winds, tornadoes.

But not always.

I have stopped running

every time it rains.

Now, I stand on the shore,

shoulders drenched.

Now, Lake Sherry offers her lullaby

of light and wave and wing.

It is high noon and I am just now

listening, hands over heart

I am held, I am held

I make the home

of myself

softer