Veins of Sound and Ink Words hold storiesin their veins of sound and ink.Memory tales and new trailsblazed by the sensessparking syllable by syllable. Words: Today;consider; imagination.Sentences: She stoppedat the corner, turningleft this time. Chapters: Andshe kept walking,taking noteof textures and colours,the scents and the sighing. Books: Taking noteand steeping it allin the freshwaterconversation runningthrough…
Stories Surrounding: a poem with audio
Stories Surrounding Do not judgethe five minutesbefore click-closing and goodnightcustomer wearing his hoodieup and bringing his smudgy suitcase in;this customer, wheeling in on the well tumbled cushion of whatever good time he’d been having.Do not judgethis customer who was surprisedand grateful we were still herebecause his social workerbrought him here when he was elevenand bought him Coralineand he’d…
Sighs Too Deep: A Poem
Of late I have been going to a contemplative prayer on Wednesday evenings and finding it to be profoundly nourishing. Sometimes I come home and write out of the fullness I feel because it’s more than I can hold inside…I find that poetry is a good container for what spills over. Too Deep Too deep,…
On Prayer
Homily @Saint Andrew’s 18 February, 2024 OPEN: I had a recent conversation with a friend who was going to attend a conference on Artificial Intelligence. She had been asked to open the conference with a prayer and decided she’d ask ChatGPT to write it. I was so curious about the result! I asked her to…
Senses of Contemplation (a poem)
Senses of Contemplation (Wednesdays at Saint Andrew’s)Warm dust and candle;stained glass archways into the story; smooth-worn wooden spirals bearing your light;the comfort-music of stillness;the full-bodied enticing awareness of limitless, of home, of Still Morethat was you and is you now and will be so onward and deeper intothe unknown Mystery of what is,as yet, beyond the embraceof our imagination….
Frying Pans, Spirals, and These Wintry Days
I have occasionally referred to a communication style I call ‘the compassionate frying pan.’ Direct, possibly jarring, but with heart. I have sometimes employed it, especially when teaching, and other times I have been the recipient of it… when the message that is needed isn’t coming through any other way. I’ve received it from well-intentioned friends, mentors,…
Right book, right moment
As a librarian—and now as an occasional bookseller, I have said to the people who approached me with frustration at not liking the book they recently read— Before you dismiss it entirely, consider that it might not be about the book…it might be about the moment. Keep your mind, eyes, instinct, open for the book…
A Bowl of Incense and a Spoon: A Poem
A Bowl of Incense and a Spoon With the good knife rescuedfrom a thrift store pegboard,The soup pot thurible is readyto incense the kitchen chapel.halve the onion, slice from the root,cross cut into a small dice.I settle my senses into thiswelcome ritual of prayer and blessing.Garlic: three cloves or four, depending,mashed into a paste with…
On One of Fifty-Four Thanksgivings: a Poem
I had occasion recently to reflect on a list of 54 Thanksgivings that I had written as a way to honour my birthday. Items from the full spread of decades made the list…Things that were good from the get-go (Being taught common-sense and trusted to exercise it)…and things now seen in retrospect (Learning, growth, and strength…
From Within
From Within The woman, retired,speaking of grandchildrenwhile examining my arms,kept saying It’s peoplelike you who show up and givewho say to the world—Do you seewhat we have in common? What weneed from each other when ina bad way? What we needcomes from within. I kept thinking about that whenI could feel 36.9 degrees of crimson…
Consider the Lilies 