Poetry
Showing 1–50 of 819 results
-
Holy Sparks : Poems
$21.00Add to cartHoly Sparks is a collection of ecopoetry with a spiritual (ecotheological) spin–poems grounded in a belief in the kinship between the cosmos and its Creator. Biophilic imagery is used throughout the poems to suggest that reverence for the earth is a natural consequence of reverence for God. The language of poetry is used to interconnect the human, natural and sacred, and to express humanity’s moral and ethical responsibility to our nonhuman kin. These poems question what it means for humans to live in right relationship with earth’s lifesystems, and they suggest that our very identity is tied to our reverence for the natural world. They offer a space of confession, reparation and praise of what remains. Holy Sparks is a call to partake of Earth’s wisdom so that we might participate in the Creator’s ongoing work.
-
Habit Of Poetry
$28.99Add to cartSomething of a minor literary renaissance happened in midcentury America from an unexpected source. Nuns were writing poetry and being published and praised in secular venues. Their literary moment has faded into history, but it is worth revisiting.
The literary creations of poetic priests like Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., and Robert Southwell, S.J. have been both a blessing and a burden–creating the sense that male clergy alone have written substantial work. But Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the 17th century Mexican poet-nun famous for her iconic verses and trailblazing sense of the role of religious creative women, set the literary precedent for pious work from women.
Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn, a critic and poet, was praised by Flannery O’Connor and kept long correspondences with many of the best poets of her generation. Carmelite nun Sister Jessica Powers published widely. Sister M. Madeleva Wolff, poet and university president, transformed Catholic higher education.
The Habit of Poetry brings together these women and others. Their poetry is devotional and deft, complex and contemplative. This mid-20th century renaissance by nun poets is more than a literary footnote; it is a case study in how women negotiate tradition and individual creativity.
-
Or And : Poems
$21.00Add to cartIn his famed treatise Either/Or, Christian existentialist philosopher Sren Kierkegaard suggests that our basic human condition is one of choice and freedom. But what about when we struggle to discern the right path forward, when we stumble between contradictory desires, when we want everything? Such insatiability – which the ancient Greeks called pleonexia – leads to suffering and sorrow for ourselves and others, not to mention the earth we call home. But what about when “either/or” thinking becomes too rigid in its limits? What about those moments when we see scarcity instead of the many possibilities that abound, when fear keeps us from giving and receiving our full share?
This book of poetry is an exploration of those times when it is necessary to make either/or choices as well as other times when, even if only briefly, we are able to echo Richard Rohr in affirming, “Yes, And.” It is a story of stumbling in darkness and seeking light, of succumbing to sinfulness and facing consequences, of desiring deeply and bumping up against limits. It’s about addiction and recovery, justice and mercy, redemption found through friendship and community. It’s about seeking ways to open doors and tear down walls. Ultimately, it is about the divine grace that occasionally manages to expand our possibilities, transforming us into vessels of boundless compassion.
-
Taking Root In The Heart
$24.99Add to cartA new collection from the best and most prolific poets published in the Christian Century over the past twenty-five years.
The 34 poets whose work appears defy the narcissistic tendencies of so much contemporary poetry. They do not necessarily express a particular orthodoxy, but they do connect with something larger than the self. Theirs is poetry that attempts to revitalize language, especially theological language. It is poetry that attempts to upset the usual modes of expression and offers up new angles of vision, especially in regard to biblical stories. For most of the poets–though not all by any means–Jesus is the Word made flesh, and the Incarnation is the paradigm as poets attempt to enflesh the abstract, make the spirit tangible, and put into words the unsayable. Poets have a way of taking on what utterly cannot be done. And those are the poems that should appear in a journal of religious news and reflection.
The poetic approaches and styles of the work of these poets are immensely varied, from the masterful narratives of Sydney Lea to the finely wrought lyrics of Charles Hughes to the always edgy and surprising poems of Bill Stadick to the most imagistic and prolific work of Luci Shaw to the provocative poems of Christian Wiman. Then there are the superb sonnets of Gracia Grindal and Angela Alaimo O’Donnell and the compelling explorations of the deep spirituality of the everyday that comprise Tania Runyan’s vision.
The poems in the journal often explore biblical themes, doctrinal issues, or theological conundrums. But many of the poems that appear in the Christian Century present human experience or encounters with the natural world that do not seem on the surface “religious” but reveal a deep humanity at the core. What defines all of these poems is a commitment to communicating with readers seeking truth, beauty, and authenticity.
-
Illustrated Edgar Allan Poe
$18.99Add to cartIn this gorgeous collection, twenty-five of Poe’s most beloved works are each illustrated with stunning, full-color collage artwork.
Poems include The Raven, The Bells, and many others. Brief commentary and helpful definitions accompany each poem, making The Illustrated Edgar Allan Poe among the most accessible–and beautiful–introductions to Edgar Allan Poe available.
From the Introduction:
SUGGESTION 1: Enjoy the poems. This seems far more important than trying to puzzle out what the author meant (or what other people believe the author meant).
SUGGESTION 2: Engage with the poems by asking questions….
SUGGESTION 3: Be your own boss. Read the poems in order or jump around as you see fit. Share them or savor them all by yourself. Say them aloud or whisper their words in your heart.
Poetry makes life better. There is NO wrong way to experience a poem.
So, read on, dear friend. And thank you for choosing poetry.
-
Poems Every Child Should Know
$29.95Add to cartPoetry is meant for everyone.
For you. For your child. But where to start?
Poems Every Child Should Know is here to help.
Selected and accompanied by commentary from bestselling author and literature professor Joseph Pearce, this exciting collection of verse contains classic poems that every child should know to begin a poetic ascent towards God. Not only that, but these poems are chosen so as to help all “become as little children,” and are ones everyone should know, regardless of age. These timeless treasures form a foundation upon which to build poetic knowledge and to see the world through the eyes of a poet, the way God intended it.
Culled from the rich history of English poetry, these gems of the English language’s inheritance are meant to enrich our children’s cultural treasure chest. Verse, like virtue, is often most beautiful when it is most simple. A good beginning makes a good end all the more likely, so immersing children in beautiful words-words which so powerfully and continually shape our world, our thoughts, our prayers-and teaching them to take a minute and stop to observe a beautiful sentence is of the utmost importance. Appreciating beauty in even the most ordinary of life’s moments is a lesson that will prepare their minds to receive Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Himself.
Throughout the book, readers will find “things to think about,” inviting them to engage more deeply with individual poems. These should be seen as an invitation to an adventure into unknown territory, an opportunity to go further up and further in. Be fearless, be adventurous, and enjoy this journey into the realm of the good, the true, and the beautiful of our English language.
-
You Are Only Just Beginning
$19.99Add to cartFrom bestselling author and beloved artist Morgan Harper Nichols, this illustrated collection of poetry empowers you to embrace your next adventure with confidence and grace.
Sometimes it’s difficult to take that first step into your future and embrace the unknown. In this collection of art and poetry, Morgan reimagines the classic heroine’s journey-from the very first call to adventure, through trials, hardships, and new relationships, all the way back home-and offers key lessons and affirmations to encourage and equip you every step of the way.
As you travel your own journey of self-discovery, you’re invited to:
*Cultivate the courage you need to follow your passions
*Develop curiosity about the natural world around you
*Find comfort and inspiration for the inevitable trials on your journey
*Reflect on how your past has prepared you
*Step out in wonder and faith, knowing there is more for youMorgan’s signature art fills every page of this book, making it a gorgeous addition to your bedside or coffee table. This is a lovely gift to give for birthdays, holidays, and graduations.
Look for the previous books in this series: All Along You Were Blooming and How Far You Have Come.
-
Goodness Of The Lord In The Land Of The Living
$12.99Add to cartLeslie Anne Bustard lives in a century-old row house in Lancaster City, PA, with her husband, Ned. Here they love to offer food and friendship to folks and collect a plethora of artwork, music, and books. She spent much of her adult years home-schooling her three girls and teaching literature, poetry, art appreciation, and writing to other children in various homeschooling co-ops. Leslie also taught middle school literature and writing at a local classical school, as well as produced high school and children’s theater. She currently writes for The Cultivating Project, The Black Barn Online, Story Warren, and Calla Press. Leslie loves museum-ing and watching movies with her family. Her first book was Wild Things and Castles in the Sky: A to Choosing the Best Books for Children (Square Halo Books, 2022).
-
Touch The Earth
$18.00Add to cartGather it from memory.
Let it touch the earth.In Touch the Earth, Drew Jackson continues the project he began in God Speaks Through Wombs, reflecting on the Gospel of Luke through poetry. Touch the Earth picks up in chapter nine and continues through the end of Luke’s Gospel. Part protest poetry, part biblical commentary, Jackson presents the gospel story in all its liberative power. Here the gospel is the fresh words / that speak of / things impossible.
From the feeding of the multitude (The best hosts always provide / take home containers”) to the resurrection of Jesus (the belly of mother Earth / is, indeed, a womb . . . the humus of life is where we become fully human), this collection helps us hear the hum of deliverance–against all hope–that’s been in the gospel all along.
-
I Wish For You
$14.99Add to cartIdeal for gift giving, this charming and colorful gift book inspires readers and gives them the words to express their heartfelt hopes and well wishes for their loved ones.
What do you wish for your friends and family? Greater joy? Fearless freedom to be who they are? Strength to persevere? Wisdom for that crucial next step in life?
Whatever you’re longing to say, I Wish for You contains uplifting affirmations that celebrate the best that life has to offer. Its universal themes of chasing your dreams, following your heart, and facing challenges with courage and conviction apply to a wide variety of special occasions, including graduations, baby showers, weddings, and general encouragement during tough times.
When you’re wanting to send more than just a card, give this beautifully written and illustrated gift book to brighten the day of someone you love.
-
Fatherless Child : You Are Never Alone
$30.00Add to cartWords of wisdom by Abraham Ali. These spoken words are a short introduction into the life and journey of Ali. A young Black man striving to be free and define his identity in this negativity. This is my therapy. My art for life contribution to the human family are the words that empower me to see my true destiny. Hopefully, they will help to guide you through the darkness that the mind must navigate through to ultimately find and define you.
-
Language Of The Birds
$21.00Add to cartAccording to legend, the language of the birds was a mystical language God used to talk with Adam and Eve when he walked with them in the garden of Eden. Amy Nemecek listens for this divine dialect as she communes with God on her walks along country roads and creek banks, through forests and hayfields. She observes the world around her with expectation, knowing that God still speaks to us as he is at work making all things new. If we have ears to hear, we can catch snippets of his grace in the watercolor silhouette of a bird, the thrum of a tractor engine, the tang of a grapefruit, the curvature of an ampersand. Amy doesn’t want to miss any of it, so she remains attentive to the smooth grit of beach sand, the tendrils of a nebula, and the steady gaze of a fossil. She delights in the details, and you will too.
In this collection of lyric and narrative poems, you are invited to walk with her as she reflects on larger themes of beauty, loss, motherhood, family, and vocation. She contemplates the sacredness of ordinary moments that we usually don’t recognize except in hindsight. Twining through every line is an aching hopefulness that ties together her love of words, her devotion to scripture, and her deep gratitude for each of life’s joys and griefs.
-
Holy Land : Poems
$21.00Add to cart“Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” -Exodus 3:5″The Holy Land is everywhere.” -Black Elk
The two epigraphs that preface Angela Alaimo O’Donnell’s Holy Land introduce the reader to the central theme that permeates her poems: that holy places deserve to be regarded with reverence and that all places are holy places. In her afterward, the poet traces these foundational concepts to her Catholic childhood wherein religious instruction consisted largely of memorizing the Baltimore Catechism. “One of questions the Catechism poses is ‘Where is God?’ The answer is ‘God is everywhere.’ We believed this to be true. God was in church, but God was also in our house (a crucifix in every room), in the backyard, in our Buick (rosary beads swinging from the rearview mirror), at our birthday parties in the basement, and in our own bodies. And though those places may not sound very holy, they were. Because God was there. Is there.”
In addition to affirming this foundational belief, these poems extend the terrain, moving beyond the geographical and the physical to the temporal, the carnal, the intellectual, and the spiritual realms. They assert that our days are blessed, our bodies are blessed, our minds and souls are all blessed and sacred ground. The poet explores a broad spectrum of physical locations, beginning with poems set in the Holy Land and moving on to places closer to home, ranging from the west of Ireland to rural Minnesota, from New York City to the Texas border. She also probes the temporal spaces we occupy, experiences of death and birth, love and loss, desire and desolation that mark our human passage.
The English word holy is related to the Germanic word heilig, a word that means blessed and also carries within it the idea of wholeness. Holy Land attempts to honor both the holiness and the wholeness of our world-from Gotham to Golgotha, the Bronx River to the Sea of Galilee-and to honor the holiness and wholeness of our blessed and broken humanity.
-
Christian Poetry In America Since 1940
$35.00Add to cartShowcasing thirty-five American poets born in or after 1940, this anthology confirms that one of the most vibrant developments in contemporary verse has been a renewed engagement with the Christian faith. Across a full spectrum of Christian belief, including the struggle to believe at all, these poets bring the power of their art to bear on serious questions: how to understand the goodness of God in a fallen and tragic world, how to reconcile universal truths with the particularities of human experience, how to render familiar events of salvation history in new language that generates its own epiphanies. As Christian engagement assumes a multiplicity of modes and voices, so does contemporary poetry in America. This volume, then, selective yet representative, features the work of early-, mid-, and late-career poets, formalists, free-verse poets, and experimenters in prosody. This anthology bears witness to the poetic mind as it seeks that which is above.
-
Christian Poetry In America Since 1940
$25.00Add to cartShowcasing thirty-five American poets born in or after 1940, this anthology confirms that one of the most vibrant developments in contemporary verse has been a renewed engagement with the Christian faith. Across a full spectrum of Christian belief, including the struggle to believe at all, these poets bring the power of their art to bear on serious questions: how to understand the goodness of God in a fallen and tragic world, how to reconcile universal truths with the particularities of human experience, how to render familiar events of salvation history in new language that generates its own epiphanies. As Christian engagement assumes a multiplicity of modes and voices, so does contemporary poetry in America. This volume, then, selective yet representative, features the work of early-, mid-, and late-career poets, formalists, free-verse poets, and experimenters in prosody. This anthology bears witness to the poetic mind as it seeks that which is above.
-
Century Of Poetry
$26.99Add to cartAll good poetry has the power to transport and transform us, to inspire and challenge us, to comfort and heal us, and to hold up a mirror to the world around us.
In A Century of Poetry, Rowan Williams invites you to reflect with him on 100 poems from the past 100 years poems with an originality and depth that can impel you to search your heart, and to explore your own experience and emotions at a deeper level.
Featuring the work of both famous and lesser-known poets, from different faiths, languages and cultures, A Century of Poetry gives you a fresh perspective on works you may be familiar with, as well as introducing you to poems you’ll be pleased to discover for the first time or perhaps discover again.
These meditations, by a writer who is both a poet and a theologian, will open new doors into the experience of reading and absorbing great poetry, highlighting the ways in which their language and imagery can touch unfamiliar places in the heart and enliven the lifelong adventure of spiritual growth and exploration.
-
Illustrated Emily Dickinson
$18.99Add to cartIn this gorgeously illustrated collection of poems, readers are introduced to twenty-five of Emily Dickinson’s most beloved poems, each illustrated with stunning, full-color collage artwork. Brief commentary and helpful definitions accompany each poem, making The Illustrated Emily Dickinson among the most accessible–and beautiful–introductions to the Belle of Amherst available. Poems include Hope is the Thing with Feathers, I’m Nobody! Who are you?, A Bird came down the Walk, Success is counted sweetest, and many more.
-
Her Thoughts : A Collection Of Meaningful Poems And Reflections
$13.99Add to cartFor so long I sat with my thoughts in my head as they gave me constant anxiety and depression.
Pushing them back, ignoring them…hoping they disappear. Sound familiar?
I was afraid to speak on anything for so many reasons. Folks have their own burdens to bear; I am being too dramatic. Does anyone really care? My thoughts turned into feelings that weighed my Soul down as I kept it all in. We wear a smile as if we are all good, but deep inside we are hurting.
This is because we had not gotten a hold of our thoughts. We must feel it to get past it!
Turning to unhealthy coping skills is not going to make the thoughts go away!Come join me as I start this amazing journey of healing as we reflect on “her thoughts!” Who knows they may happen to be a thought or two of yours as well. Our thoughts soon will be released from our Souls and before we know it! WE WILL BE FREE!Write it out, sing it out, or even scream it outJust please!LET IT OUT!Ready to reflect on “her thoughts?”Let’s go!!!
-
Uninterrupted Thoughts
$14.99Add to cartThis eclectic collection of poetry takes you on an uninterrupted journey of love, laughter, pain, loss and discovery! Written from the creative mindset of a spoken word artist, you will certainly leave feeling inspired, loved and with a better understanding of who Alicia Azahar is! This poet speaks from her heart to yours with her unique style of writing. You will laugh, cry, get upset, and fall in love by the influence of her powerful word flow, but you won’t be the same after you finish this book. Come take a ride on these uninterrupted thoughts of poetry train and see the world through her eyes!
-
Words Of Life And Encouragement
$13.99Add to cartWords of Life And Encouragement is a book of poetry and prose. A publication that is meant to engage and inspire the reader. It will serve as a message of hope.They will be edified and enlightened. They will be able to identify with what they take in. The words will be on point, resonating with their souls edified. It is Christian poetry that will touch the heart and give you hope.
-
From Shade To Shine
$20.00Add to cartThis collection of poems begins in the growing darkness of November, stretches through Advent and the seasons leading to Easter and to Pentecost, and ends in the budding light of the Scottish Orkney Islands, where the canonical hours measure time over centuries and where God broods over an austere and beautiful landscape. The measurement of time passing and returning, year after year, in the rhythms of the seasons and of the liturgical year, create the pace and the song. But in the biblical voices of Magdalene, Mary, Abel, and Eve, and in the grim historical and political realities of war and suffering, one also hears lament and finds the poet’s clear-eyed gaze straight into life’s challenges. Memory is at work here, too, in personal reminiscences and in theological reflection. As one philosopher has said, “All truth is God’s truth.”
-
I Sat Down With My Father
$19.99Add to cartPoetry is the language of love, and God is the greatest author of love. The pages of this book are my heart’s attempt to put God’s love into words. In these words, I pray that you will find the love that I have felt throughout the years, that you will see and perhaps even feel the presence of our Heavenly Father, or that you will be intrigued to investigate beyond my words and delve into God’s Word.
Seek Christ, and you will find Him, for He is seeking you.
-
Angels Everywhere : Poems
$19.00Add to cart“The word ‘angel’ means ‘messenger’ and the title poem of this book, ‘Angels Everywhere, ‘ presents the idea that what I often glimpse is a flicker of glancing light, as if a heavenly being is darting in and out of my viewing, allowing me entry into a realm beyond my physical, experiential world–brief revelatory messages from somewhere beyond. I’m hoping that as you read these poems, (more than once, aloud if possible) something like Wordsworth’s ‘intimations of immortality’ will enliven your own perceptions of the world as you experience it. Maybe your own fleet of angels will show up!” –Luci Shaw, from the Introduction
-
Begin With A Question
$20.00Add to cartBegin with a Question explores how the life of faith is a continuous voyage, launched anew each bright day of the spirit or dark night of the soul. This is a book of contemplation and motion, a journey–often in stops and starts–toward the Divine, a pilgrimage paved with prayer, praise, pause, penitence, and (of course) questions. Urgent and universal, joyful or joyless, tinged with doubt or rinsed with hope, here are honest queries that probe, lift, and lead to discovery. Begin with a Question keeps us moving, seeking, reaching, lifting us out of ourselves to something beyond. Using a variety of fixed forms and free verse, the poet examines our relationship to the one who asks, “Who do you say that I am?” A book for seekers, doubters, and believers alike, these poems bring us face to face with anguish, anger, awe, and adoration. They give us permission not to demand answers, but to follow the questions that lead to the Alpha and Omega, to the I AM that keeps us spiraling along this twisting path toward God.
-
Raising The Sparks
$19.00Add to cartRaising the Sparks, Jennifer Wallace’s sixth poetry collection, is inspired by the alignment of Christian and Judaic traditions. The idea of raising the sparks, tikkun olam, comes from 16th century mystical Judaism–the belief that, if people worked to “gather or raise the sparks” from the sacred vessels that shattered at the moment of creation, a repair of the world from its initial splitting would be complete. It is the duty of each one of us to raise the sparks from wherever they are imprisoned and to elevate them to holiness. Also informing this work is the Jesuit idea of finding God in all things and conversing (without clerical intervention) directly with Jesus. The poems in this collection engage with these theological traditions by witnessing the human joys and challenges of attending to their mandates.
-
Beloved : Poems, Praise, And Prayers
$24.99Add to cartBeloved: Poems, Praise, and Prayers is a collection of poetry capturing cries of the heart in an outpouring of vulnerable expression that is healing, precious, and miraculous once revealed. Like the Balm of Gilead, these lyrical writings soothe and sweetly whisper to the reader, touching their heart in a restorative response and calling them closer to their Heavenly Father.
This poetic celebration of womanhood and love reflects the ethereal threads that weave together the transcendent emotions of the female experience.
-
Call Us What We Carry
$24.99Add to cartA collection of poetry by presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman
Including The Hill We Climb, the stirring poem read at the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, this collection of the same name reveals an energizing and unforgettable new voice in America poetry.
-
Cornered By The Dark
$19.00Add to cartW. H. Auden, Jorge Luis Borges, Howard Thurman, Julia Equivel, Thomas Merton, Langston Hughes, Pedro Pietri and Miguel Piñero, in their work make a connection between poetry, social criticism and the meaning of life together-that is a part of Recinos’ own literary labor. His work creates a fusion between the personal and the public in verse that is searching, expansive and walking hurt streets. Cornered by the Dark is a work about truth-telling and witness-bearing to the marginal men, women and children who tell their story about a culture of indifference and callousness while finding courage and compassion to hope in everyday life. He uses the language of poetry in this collection to awaken the conscience to the world of social inequality, racism, xenophobia, poverty, and the pulse of existence in contexts beyond the dominant gaze of society.
Cornered by the Dark encourages readers to use their imagination to live into invisible communities and to pause in the places of difficult knowing where the voiceless speak. The unique contributions of this collection of poetry will be aided by Recinos’ lived experience that empowers it: His life story began in the South Bronx. A tough place. A tormented place. His destitute Puerto Rican mother and Guatemalan father came to the United States motivated by their desperate flight from a life of misery and despair. They never lived the American Dream; instead, they remained economically marginal and cultural strangers in America. Sadly, their desperate conditions of life caused them to abandon Recinos to live on the streets. On the streets, he discovered a world of extreme poverty and drugs, until four years later when he was taken in by a White Presbyterian minister and his family. With this family, he began a drug-free life, went to the College of Wooster, and eventually earned a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology with honors from The American University in Washington, D.C. Recinos’ existential reality informs his poetic gaze.
-
God Speaks Through Wombs
$16.00Add to cartbirthing prophetic utterances. . . . Enough of this unbelieving religion that masquerades as faith. Divine favor is placed on what we have disgraced.
In God Speaks Through Wombs, Drew Jackson explores the first eight chapters of Luke’s Gospel in a new poetic register. These are declarative poems, faithfully proclaiming the gospel story in all its liberative power. Here the gospel is the “fresh words / that speak of / things impossible.” From the Magnificat (“That girl can sing! . . . She has a voice / That can shatter shackles”) to the baptism of Christ (“I stepped in / Committing insurrection”), this collection helps us hear the hum of deliverance–against all hope–that’s been in the gospel all along.
-
Poems Of John Donne
$13.95Add to cartJohn Donne was one of the great “metaphysical poets” in Elizabethan England. His work helped establish the English tradition of poetry, and influenced everyone afterwards from Alexander Pope to T.S. Eliot. Donne lived a tumultuous life before settling down and becoming the dean of St. Paul’s cathedral. He wrote everything from love sonnets to satires and elegies, but his greatest poems are undoubtedly the holy sonnets.
In this new edition of the complete 1633 collection of Donne’s poems, we see the work of a mature Christian poet and pastor writing about love, suffering, and our need for God.
“Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.” ~Holy Sonnet -
Hello Earth : Poems To Our Planet
$18.99Add to cartWe walk on Earth’s surface every day, but how often do we wonder about the incredible planet around us? From the molten cracks below to the shimmering moon above, Hello, Earth! explores the wonders of the natural world. This playful journey across our puzzle-piece continents does not hesitate to ask questions-even of the Earth itself!
Joyce Sidman’s imaginative poems encourage boundless curiosity, and Miren Asiain Lora’s stunning paintings capture the beauty of Earth’s ecosystems, creatures, and powerhouse plants. The book concludes with extensive scientific material to foster further learning about how the earth works, from water cycles to plate tectonics to the origin of ocean tides.
A gorgeous, expansive celebration of science and art, Hello, Earth! is a book to cherish in whatever landscape you call home.
-
Holy Spirit Inspired Poetry
$35.95Add to cartThis book contains much of the poetry written to accompany the weekly sermons at Willow River Baptist Church of Houston under Pastor Al Cabrera. It contains poems written over several years. Pastor Cabrera gave me the sermon scriptures each week to write a related poem to print in the bulletin. Many poems came to me in the middle of the night, and I would quickly rise to put them on paper. Only the Holy Spirit could allow me the words to write.
-
Holy Spirit Inspired Poetry
$19.95Add to cartThis book contains much of the poetry written to accompany the weekly sermons at Willow River Baptist Church of Houston under Pastor Al Cabrera. It contains poems written over several years. Pastor Cabrera gave me the sermon scriptures each week to write a related poem to print in the bulletin. Many poems came to me in the middle of the night, and I would quickly rise to put them on paper. Only the Holy Spirit could allow me the words to write.
-
There Is A Future
$19.00Add to cartLearning about the ancient Jewish tradition of midrash, a rabbinic form of textual interpretation that seeks and imagines answers to unanswerable questions, felt to Amy Bornman like a poetic invitation to re-engage with the Bible in a new way. There is a Future: A Year of Daily Midrash – an award-winner in the Paraclete Poetry Prize competition – grew from a yearlong project to read the Bible daily, and write daily midrashic poems in response to the readings-to honor the text by wondering about, and struggling with, it. By engaging particular passages of scripture across the Old and New Testaments directly, these poems imagine new dimensions of the text, and make vivid connections to the world as it is now and to the author’s own life-emerging at year’s end with new hope in a future that at times feels impossible, as the days pile on days and the text’s enduring questions continue to ring.
-
Heart Mind And Soul
$14.99Add to cartThis is a book of an assortment of poetry. I feel that this book has something for everyone. It has inspiration if you are feeling low or need encouragement. If you are head over hills in love, I got you! If you feel like being a little silly, hopefully, I can make you smile. It has poems just for everyday life; I promise you can relate to at least one of the poems in this book.
So, come take a walk with me, hope you enjoy the journey.
-
Litany Of Flights
$21.00Add to cartWinner of the 2020 Paraclete Poetry Prize, Litany of Flights is a luminous examination of the journey of the soul, from moments of loss to moments of incandescent transformation. These poems remind us to behold the extraordinary in the ordinary, and that the secret workings of the divine occur even through the difficult: “the painful paring of your hollow bones has made you light.” Drawing on the beauty of the natural world, the devastating effects of drought and wildfires, tender moments of daily experience, and lessons of the saints, the poet creates a landscape of light and darkness, with unexpected turns into divine presence and absence. Through a spiral of red-tailed hawks, the nest of a mourning dove, the parting of waters, and the ripeness of a persimmon, this shimmering collection invites the reader to singular and transfiguring flight.
Litany of Flights
(from the forthcoming collection)First, the winged movement, steady, forward. Scrub jays in flitting
progress, hawks in predator glide, a ringing up, a knife-sharp slopedown. Second, the effortless type, wind-splayed, motionless pinions
in thermal recline, as the Psalmist says, blessings breeze his love evenin sleep. Third, the hungry, against the gale, the destination singular
and the sun dipping crimson. Fourth, the metallic, business or pleasure.Fifth, the whirring kind, all hummingbird. A picnic, apples and chocolate
in the garden with roses, both flower and child. You miss it when it’s gone.Sixth, a baffling flight of stairs, winding upward, passage and yet vehicle,
spiraling to unseen landings-hope courses in the kaleidoscopic lights.Seventh, soar to the sun. Eighth, melt in bitter hubris. You know the story.
Ninth, escape. A flight out of Egypt, a path through the sea cleared bydivine hand. The times you ran, the times you were left behind in lament.
Tenth, only rotting in the belly of a whale tames your stubborn turn fromNineveh. Eleventh, flights of despair and of yearning, two sides of one
letting go, hard-earned release back into the wild, unbound by expectation,featherlike. Twelfth, in a moment, caught up high by the Beloved, the one
making all things work together, wings, body, arch, air-caught up, like theShulamite bride, to regions beyond aeronautical wisdom, transported in joy.
See, he says, the painful paring of your hollow bones has made you light. -
Timeless Christmas : A Collection Of Classic Stories And Poems
$18.99Add to cartThis holiday season, give the readers in your life a beautiful collection of timeless Christmas stories and poems they will surely cherish for years to come.
In this giftable and beautifully packaged anthology, readers will discover lesser-known but tender stories and poems from classic authors they know and love. Each selection honors the spirit of the season and celebrates the beauty, mystery, and joy found this time of year.
This charming book collects works from literary favorites Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, O. Henry, Christina Rossetti, and more. Each story and poem has been lovingly selected to celebrate the heart of the season and to gently remind readers of the true meaning of Christmas.
-
Therese : Poems
$21.00Add to cartIn this collection, poet Sarah Law presents lucid, lyrical reflections on the much-loved saint, Therese of Lisieux (1873-97), whose life and writing has been an inspiration to so many people. For Sarah Law, there is something about Therese that catches at the heart, and her poems flow from that sense of friendship and tenderness with her subject. Many of the poems meditate on events, large and small, in Therese’s brief but spiritually significant life. The first section explores her childhood, and the second, her nine precious years as a Carmelite nun; years of both sweetness and suffering. Several poems are inspired by well-known photographs of Therese, some of which are included in this volume. A final section considers Therese’s legacy, as her ‘little way’ of confidence and love became known throughout the world. Each poem may be read as an individual reflection, and as part of the larger biographical sequence.
-
Clear Light : Spiritual Reflections And Meditations
$18.95Add to cartAs Eckhart Tolle has written, poetry “has been recognized since ancient times as a highly appropriate medium for the expression and transmission of spiritual truth.” The Clear Light is Steve Taylor’s latest contribution to this poetic tradition, offering short and powerful reflections as a guide to spiritual awakening and as experiential glimpses of the state of enlightenment itself. Taylor ranges widely, through subjects including “Making the Human Race Whole,” “Freedom from the Past,” and “The Reality of Connection,” always in clear and simple language. Best of all, he reminds us of the choices we always have when life feels chaotic and overwhelming: empathy, acceptance, and love. Soothing but also challenging, Taylor’s words continually affirm the profound bedrock of peace and even joy in the present that is always available. The book’s eponymous reflection says it best:
There is nothing that can’t be undone —
no past injury that can’t be healed
no past mistake that can’t be corrected —
in the clear light of the present.Reading this book is a transformational spiritual experience in itself.
-
Generosity : Poems
$20.00Add to cartRejoice, readers, as you receive the generosity of Luci Shaw’s 76 new grace-infused parable poems. Autobiography once more merges with theology as these poems illuminate in splendored natural detail how the seasons of creation parallel and explain the seasons of her life as a poet. Again and again, these poems shower us with glorious epiphanies from the natural world as it reflects God’s generosity at work such as “spring’s impossible news of green.” These poems confirm that in poetry as in faith “ripeness is all.” Like Wordsworth, Luci is celebrated for being a highly gifted landscape poet whose works are rich in imagery from the physical world-meadows filled with seeds, flowers, and also poems which are like “shoots” in Luci’s writing life. Animals, too, great and small (beetles, cricket, and voles to bears and whales) play a major role in Luci’s poetics of creation; God is likened to a great bear who leaves paw tracks for us to follow. In their deep faith and vibrant colors and designs, the poems in Generosity might be considered Luci’s Book of Kells. We need to be like Luci’s father who carried her poems in his briefcase to show his friends.
-
All That Passes Away
$8.99Add to cartWith feeble life that’s all too brief, there is a hope to bring relief. Beyond the sights within our view will be a life created new. Although we leave a grave to tend, there is a life without an end.For one day God will recreate the heavens and the earth, and there’s a life eternal with our spirit’s saving birth. Not just the earth, but all of nature God will recreate. God starts within, but there is more; for that we’ll have to wait.
-
Prayerful Poet : Found Poems In Hymns Of The Past
$9.99Add to cartBeverly Stock is a feature writer turned poet from St. Louis, Missouri. Noted for her whimsical, thoughtful style, Beverly is passionate about creating work that explores the joys, challenges, and surprises of everyday life. The Prayerful Poet is her first collection of verse. Brimming with joy, wonder, and tenderness, this stirring volume takes inspiration from traditional Christian hymns and classic spiritual works.
Each poem combines Beverly’s poetic adaptations with the time-honored hymnal lyrics and finds fresh meaning in traditional songs of praise. A mixture of grand voices and elegiac laments, The Prayerful Poet engages readers with its hopeful perspective, and is a perfect read for anyone who finds beauty in the divine.
-
Prayerful Poet : Found Poems In Hymns Of The Past
$24.99Add to cartBeverly Stock is a feature writer turned poet from St. Louis, Missouri. Noted for her whimsical, thoughtful style, Beverly is passionate about creating work that explores the joys, challenges, and surprises of everyday life. The Prayerful Poet is her first collection of verse. Brimming with joy, wonder, and tenderness, this stirring volume takes inspiration from traditional Christian hymns and classic spiritual works.
Each poem combines Beverly’s poetic adaptations with the time-honored hymnal lyrics and finds fresh meaning in traditional songs of praise. A mixture of grand voices and elegiac laments, The Prayerful Poet engages readers with its hopeful perspective, and is a perfect read for anyone who finds beauty in the divine.
-
Madonna Complex
$14.00Add to cartWhat does it mean to say yes?–to God, to the Spirit, to art, to love, to motherhood, to the dazzling & tangible world? Mary’s response to the angel, saying “Let it be to me as you have said,” is an essential moment in the life of a disciple, a woman, and an artist. In Madonna, Complex, Mary’s “yes” is a moment of opening, of allowing her very body to become a co-creator with God and a conduit for the coming of grace into the world. However, womanhood in all its fullness–sexuality, marriage, infertility, childbirth, nursing–inevitably complicates traditional Christian imagery of Mary. Madonna, Complex chronicles a feminine faith journey alongside saints like Joan of Arc and Saint Kateri, images of motherhood in visual art, through holy days of the Christian calendar–Ash Wednesday, Holy Saturday, All Saints Day–and sites of pilgrimage, cathedrals, wilderness, and other places holiness can be found. These poems explore the complexities of the messages we receive about what it means to say yes to God, or to something larger than ourselves that demands our attention and energy, whether it’s bearing a child or participating in a political protest.
-
Spirits In Bondage
$25.99Add to cartA rare glimpse of a young C. S. Lewis.
Spirits in Bondage reveals the earliest published thoughts of C. S. Lewis. However, we find an unfamiliar Lewis–not the mature Christian but the young atheist cynic, who fought in the harrowing Great War. In these poems Lewis dreads the dangerous world that keeps us from living meaningful lives.
Introduced by Karen Swallow Prior, this beautiful print edition of Spirits in Bondage will nuance our understanding of C. S. Lewis.
-
Exploring This Terrain
$21.00Add to cartWhat is the terrain that Margaret Ingraham explores in Exploring This Terrain? It ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains to Pluto. The path crosses the trails of memory and illness, the natural world and disintegration, and various parts unseen. Yet it stays, as Margaret says near the end of the book, in the ‘secret places of my brokenness.’ It is the beautiful landscape of wonder, the uneven country of love, the difficult ground of faith.
-
Andalusian Hours : Poems From The Porch Of Flannery O’Connor
$19.00Add to cartAndalusian Hours: Poems from the Porch of Flannery O’Connor is a collection of 101 sonnets that channel the voice of celebrated fiction writer, Flannery O’Connor. In these poems, poet and scholar Angela Alaimo O’Donnell imagines the rich interior life Flannery lived during the last fourteen years of her life in rural Georgia on her family’s farm named “Andalusia.” Each poem begins with an epigraph taken from O’Connor’s essays, stories, or letters; the poet then plumbs Flannery’s thoughts and the poignant circumstances behind them, welcoming the reader into O’Connor’s private world. Together the poems tell the story of a brilliant young woman who enjoyed a bright and promising childhood, was struck with lupus just as her writing career hit its stride, and was forced to return home and live out her days in exile, far from the literary world she loved. By turns tragic and comic, the poems in Andalusian Hours explore Flannery’s loves and losses, her complex relationship with her mother, her battle with her illness and disability, and her passion for her writing. The poems mark time in keeping with the liturgical hours O’Connor herself honored in her prayer life and in her quasi-monastic devotion to her vocation and to the home she learned to love, Andalusia.
-
Probing Eyes : Poems Of A Lifetime, 1959-2019
$12.99Add to cartProbing Eyes is a collection of 156 poems written over a period of 60 years by a Christian professor of English literature. The first and largest section is called “Scriptural Extensions,” and it seeks to throw fresh light on various Scriptural situations by either projecting the personality of a character though a dramatic monologue or offering a fresh slant on the events depicted. These poems proceed from asking the question, “I wonder what this biblical character was thinking in the midst of these events.” The second section, “Interactions,” presents some of the author’s experiences in interfacing with others, from family and friends to people only casually known. The third section, “Perspectives on Time, consists of poems written mostly as New Year’s meditations, dealing with how we as Christians are affected by the passage of time; while the inexorable flow of time reminds of our finiteness and mortality, it also challenges us to understand how God, Who is timeless, is master of our limitations. The final section, “Personal and Meditative,” is a miscellanea of personal and occasional ruminations, some serious and others playful. The book has four indexes to facilitate finding a poem by title, chronological placement, Scriptural reference, or topic. The author hopes that these poems will thus lend themselves to use for private Bible study and sermon or worship application. The most fruitful reading of the poems, especially of those for which a Scriptural reference is given, will come from a careful look at the relevant biblical texts.
This book is not presented as the work of a main-stream poet, for Prof. Higgs has pursued his poetry writing as an avocation, not a profession. He has opted for clarity over artistic sophistication, which may not commend him to contemporary critics and practitioners of poetic composition. At the same time, the author aspires to go beyond the kind of religious versification whose primary purpose is to convey a moral lesson through rhyming lines. That is not an ignoble objective, but it does not embrace a full participation in the linguistic complexity that characterizes serious poetry. Dr. Higgs seeks in his poems to combine the beauty of art with the beauty of Truth, and thereby to stimulate fresh attention to who God is and how He works with the people of His creation.
The style of Probing Eyes is mainly free verse, but with regular use of internal rhyme, assonance, and alliteration. The reader may see reflected i
