My collection of new and selected poems is out now and it’s a strange feeling — I sometimes call it a “postpartum” time — when my poems, some
of them recent, some of them taking me through much earlier stages of my life, are out there now: re-sorted and available for others to read, absorb, perhaps respond to. I’m hoping at least some readers will read the collection the way it emerged as I put it together, from beginning to end in sequence, and going through various stages of seeing, of times of retreat, of prayerful pandemic times, of anger, grief and loss, and the deep peacefulness that can come in our favorite natural landscapes and seascapes.
And now I find myself in kind of a fallow time — not knowing what kind of writing will come next. But I am savoring what I discovered in assembling this collection: the deep reality of what Hildegard of Bingen called viriditas — the divine energy and life that she perceives pulsing through all of nature – through the whole physical world, the energy and poignancy of life. In this postpartum summer, I am taking a lot of long walks in nature, soaking up the greenness, and letting memories and hopes for my life unfold as I walk. I hope that the poems will offer similar invitations to people who read them.
If you’re reading this blog you may have seen elsewhere on the site that you can order the book from Wipf and Stock or Amazon. OR if you’d like a signed copy you can contact me directly, using the ‘contact” feature on this website. Now that these poems are out there I hope that they will find readers who will be blessed by them.