Poetry
-
Wrestling Insipidity: Between Inspiration and Fatigue By Vincent H. Anastasi 2024 This perpetual exhaustion tires me to no end,and in those quiescent momentswhen I bolt the door on duty,I await the belated muse —but my lamp’s expired and, once again,I have missed the long-expected groom.I assume when each demanding “to do” is done,primed to write,…
-
I have been living, savoring the moments of married children home for weddings, holiday celebrations, late night games and talks, traveling and staying put, eating, loving, caring for the sick, pushing off the extraneous, the many emails pilling up like leaves in my inbox, and fronting “only the essential facts of life,” as Thoreau so…
-
Arriving late for Christmas day itself, like the magi that arrived much later at the door to Jesus’ home (see Matthew 2:1-12), I come bearing three gifts: two poems and a song. I have spent the last seven days savoring time with family between my son’s wedding and celebrating Christmas itself. If you have a…
-
Once again I draw from the rich collection of poems on the Art and Theology website for tonight’s post. The reminder of the humanity of this divine moment in time, specifically surrounding Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child, kindles a more fervent faith in me. This REALLY HAPPENED! It’s not just some lofty story in…
-
Brilliant! That’s all I can say about this wonderful juxtaposition of an ordinary, selfless act of love on behalf of the powerless performed by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and the work of Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh on behalf of all humanity. My wife and I wept as I read it aloud over…
-
In looking for a Christmas-themed short story for my AP English Literature class, I came across Art & Theology’s post from November 22, 2022: “25 Poems for Christmas.” What a fantastic collection it is! Of course, their first poem from Wendell Berry’s collection of Sabbath poems remains one of my favorites. I referenced it here…
-
I began this poem years ago when my eldest son (now 23!) was much younger. I didn’t note the date on the typed copy I recently found, but I still distinctly remember him saying that the “world is a museum of leaves” as he surveyed the autumnal landscape. That phrase has stuck with me through…
-
Tonight, in the search for my copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, serendipity led me to my copy of Philip Terman’s Our Portion: New and Selected Poems published in 2015. Sometimes we forget the gifts we have sitting on our shelves or within miles of our home. Years ago, I invited Philip Terman to speak to…
-
“We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.” Martin Luther King, Jr. One way we peacefully protest comes in the form of vigils. According to The Guardian, this image captures, “Mourners [as they] pay their respects…
-
“First of all, if you learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.“ Atticus Finch, To Kill a…
the deepening ground 