Breakfast and time here before dawn. Then work in the kitchen.
I am rereading The Generosity by Luci Shaw – her book from Paraclete Press in 2020.
shorter days
sun on the cedar tree
with the new wreath
Tag: Luci Shaw
And reading again today
This is a post from last year: Classic Book (with a different photo this year).
WinterSong: Christmas Readings by Madeleine L’Engle and Luci Shaw is a beautiful book.
The hardcover edition was published in 1996 by Harold Shaw Publishers (Wheaton, Illinois). I also have the paperback version that was published by Regent College Publishing (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada).
WinterSong is a classic now, and I enjoy rereading some selections each year.
This afternoon
This afternoon, I am reading Harvesting Fog Poems by Luci Shaw. Her book was published in 2010 by Pinyon Publishing in Montrose, Colorado.
I subscribe to Pinyon Review. Susan Entsminger is Editor.
Last week, I enjoyed creating two more boxes of book donations for Goodwill in Sheboygan, which included poetry journals and art magazines. Perhaps some may read poetry and discover poems that have meaning for them. Or learn more about history from a memoir. Discover a simple gift for someone.
As book stores closed in our area, I was happy to see good collections at thrift stores and other stores. Library sales. The books may travel to another state or country. Be read and shared again. Someone may decide to subscribe to a small press poetry journal. I know I cannot read or reread “everything.”
Next I plan to wash some old clothes, sometimes from thrift stores too, and donate them. Cotton that has been washed many times may become quilt pieces for someone.
You can tell that I am catching up with some simple tasks. One step at a time, and creative work too. Much is in the past now, and I am grateful every day, and look forward as well.
Take good care.
Small Study Poems and Seasons – 1
My small study on the second floor is my view of the seasons when I read print journals and books. A comfortable chair, a lamp, a desk by the window, a plant, and a bookcase. File cabinets. The back yard is the view – sky, clouds, light, trees, birds. The lamp was a gift from Karl and has a small table and place for books.
This morning, I thought I’d see if over time a collection that pictures the seasons has grown. I post in an everyday way here. For this post, I reviewed my archives from January 2020 – August 2020.
new day
in my older life
sun on evergreens
winter storm Sunday
a day to read poems
and enjoy the images,
language, and craft
with my heart
From February 9, 2020
Monday afternoon
in March
sun fills a bookcase
from my father
From March 29, 2020
grey sky
mourning dove
on a birch tree branch
time with the Psalms
a dove on the branch
pictures a poem
evergreen branches
with grey clouds
and blue sky
praying the Psalms
From May 11, 2020
trees have grown
and summer is here
the view where I read
is more green than sky
From June 22, 2020
July days go by
this year’s leaves
in sun and wind
reading a poem
or two from a new book *
and the sky, wind,
and trees in the yard
almost September
* The Generosity: Poems by Luci Shaw (2020, Paraclete Press)
Luci Shaw has published two books with Paraclete Press.
Poems in this post are by Ellen Grace Olinger.
Thy statutes have been my songs
in the house of my pilgrimage.
Psalm 119: 54 (KJV)
Thank you
Blessings: Rain and Books
Yesterday, I finished rereading A Listening Life, by Tracy Balzer (2011, Pinyon Publishing). She is a new author for me. I know the quality of the work from Pinyon Publishing, and I saw that Jill Briscoe and Luci Shaw recommended the book.
Tracy Balzer “carry some quiet around” is the author’s site. Her new book will be published in June 2021 – more information at her site.
time with a book
needed rain falls
on the gardens . . .
quiet and I hear
the sound of a train
Poem by Ellen Grace Olinger
Sunday morning
Over the years, my book collection has grown, and I have given many books and journals away. Now I am grateful to browse at home, and read what I was not able to read before, for one reason or another.
Poetry journals, memoirs, novels, letters – books and journals at different times. Rereading is also a blessing, and can be a comfort when I don’t feel able to read something new; and yet I always learn more. If I know the story, for example, I look to learn a little more about how the author achieved the work. If I can easily reread a poem aloud and the poem is still new, the poet has achieved something beautiful.
Sometimes I know an author’s work so well, that a short selection recalls the whole work so far. I have read many books by Luci Shaw. As I write, I am looking at Sea Glass: New & Selected Poems by Luci Shaw (2016, WordFarm).
Over time, this creates comfort and a new history for me. I reread a poem, for example, and remember how the poem helped during a difficult time. And now time has passed, and rereading deepens my faith and hope.
So what I read and write now, is for today, and also for the future. And I remember as well, and am grateful to be writing this post today.
Christmas morning
Christmas morning
poetry time and
new light grows
The Generosity by Luci Shaw – her new book from Paraclete Press in 2020.
Haiku by Ellen Grace Olinger
Poems From Oostburg, Wisconsin 