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Lit Magazine: A Selection of Poems

��Ƶ — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 17:50:56 +0000

“I love it when students take poetry and art and it almost begins to dance because they connect it to ideas that are happening in the classroom. Those are magical moments for me […] We’re doing all of this through transforming relationships. It’s more than just a mission statement—it’s the place where imagination happens. This is what we call the theater of imagination. Tools can tend to be a little bit abstract but they give us a lot of power to do this work. But the theater of imagination becomes: Why is this important?

—Dr. Chelle Stearns

Today we are sharing a collection of submissions from , an annual publication that exists to promote the craft of writing and showcase literary excellence produced by members of our community.

Veneration

by Ellen Cline

The day after she said she longed to die
I drove away from Church of the Holy Trinity.
I had been sifting Father Ben’s homily
For some thick root of grace to put between my teeth,
Like bracing for sharp pain without anesthesia.
I’d knelt and stood and knelt, my mind two feet above my body
Seeking comfort in the piety I could not feel
But soaked through witness from the second pew to last.
I saw old Thom.
Thom, with his staff in hand, tall as his head,
and thick around. He needs it to move,
To stand, to bend, to kneel, on knees torn up by shrapnel.
Vietnam, his wife said. I used to fire pottery in her garage.
Before cancer. Before her seven cats were spread
Among the parish for safekeeping.
Thom would be sitting by the door, smoking a cigarette.
His hand would tremor when he took it from his lips.
Sometimes he’d stare, sometimes he’d see me to my soul
And pull me to his whiskered face, eyes like black holes.
That Sunday, when I came to church
Long-stretched and worn, I fell into a pew
Loosing tears that seeped endless
Into my cardigan. I watched Thom up front.
I saw his old head bowed. I heard him shuffle
Slow and painful steps to read the Psalter in a voice that didn’t shake.
Not like his hands, which trembled as he raised them
When we stood to sing the closing mercy.
He did that every week, both arms outstretched
To the wooden cross at front of the chapel,
Hands quaking visibly above his gray and balding head.
Sometimes he’d fling them wide
Through the cloud of incense and my breath would catch,
Thinking of the nightmares in his eyes sometimes.
O Lord God,
Lamb of God,
Son of the Father
Who takest away the sins of the world
Have mercy upon us.
Receive our prayer.
He’d seen me in the back afterward and came close
To clasp my hand in his two trembling ones.
I hadn’t been there in a year. He knew me though.
How are you Thom I’d said.
Better now he’d said.
I set the vision of his raised arms between my teeth
Now when I wake, miles from the cross.

Wildness

by Rachel Luke

the wildness
I feel her howling inside of me
stretching as she awakes
after years of my silencing her
I am frightened of her energy
the goodness
of her untamed strength
she could take me anywhere
but oh how I love adventure
and even if I tremble
I’m headed into the wild
to find who I have always been

The Crows

by Kyle Petricek

They show up in my writing
They flitter over my shoulder
They call out into the world
What are you doing here?
They followed me across the country.
There was no escaping them
Their laughter woke me up
What are you doing here?
I can’t get away from them.
I can’t unsee them.
I can’t unhear them
What are you doing here?
Beauty seems to unfold in its own time
Its not to be forced or coerced
It wont be opened a moment sooner
It will not be missed
Perhaps they were telling me to stop
To see
To hear
What I cannot

To learn more about submitting to Lit, .

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A Black History Month Reading List

��Ƶ — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 16:00:33 +0000

Black History Month is an invitation to listen to the stories and insights of Black individuals and communities in America in a way that affirms and celebrates dignity and humanity. It is a crucial annual rhythm, but one that cannot—and should not—be contained to just one month (not to mention the shortest month) out of the year.

So as we near the end of February, we asked faculty, staff, and students to weigh in on texts by Black authors that have challenged, provoked, enlightened, and inspired them. The stories and ideas recommended here are enough to keep us reading and learning all year long. And may it be so.

by Angela Davis
“This woman is an idol to me—profoundly courageous, thoughtful, able to see and speak to intersections between race, class, gender, and systems of oppression, like few I have read. This woman lost her professorship to a threatened governor of California, Ronald Reagan. She went to court and took it back!” –Dr. Ron Ruthruff, Associate Professor of Theology & Culture

by Charlene A. Carruthers
“This book offers collected insights on collective liberation that are clear and deeply personal, by way of Black liberation and the Black radical tradition. Carruthers offers a critical voice rooted in ‘Black radical, feminist, queer, and anti-capitalist theories and practices.’ It is fire and it offers readers a way to sharpen their views and action.” –Jennifer Fernandez, Assistant Instructor

by Terrance Hayes
“The poems in this collection are crafted with a velocity that burned as I read and is burning still, months after finishing. With an ear to history and an eye on the present, Hayes writes about Black life in a country that has demonized and violated Blackness for centuries. Both political and personal, his work astutely diagnoses our national systems while still packing the romance and desire of a classic sonnet. The relationship between prophet and artist has never seemed clearer to me.” –Beau Denton, Content Curator

by Ijeoma Oluo
“Oluo’s work is a powerful, enlightening, and accessible ‘actionable exploration of today’s racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.’ With chapter titles such as ‘What is Racism?,’ ‘What If I Talk about Race Wrong?,’ ‘What are Microaggressions?,’ and ‘Talking is Great, but What Else Can I Do?,’ Oluo’s work should be required reading for all.” –Millicent Haase, Master of Divinity student

by Angie Thomas
“Several months ago I read The Hate U Give and found it profoundly impacting. It helped me to see in a small way what it must be like to be a young woman of color trying to be herself while also trying to fit in to both the exclusive, predominantly white high school she attends and the poor, diverse neighborhood where she lives. It is a Young Adult book, fairly easy to read on the surface, and very thought-provoking both while you are reading it and as you process it later.” –Cheryl Goodwin, Director of Institutional Assessment & Library Services

by Ibram X. Kendi
“I dare you to read a book on history for Black History Month. You will discover that racist ideas don’t create systems of oppression, but rather systems of oppression need racist ideas to do the evil and intentional work of racism. Thank you, Dr. Kendi.” –Dr. Ron Ruthruff

by James Baldwin
“I grew up reading novels by Baldwin but this was the first book of his essays that I picked up, and it changed me. The spiritual work being done by Baldwin in these pages is arduous as it demands that the reader think differently, see differently, do differently. His reflections are just as relevant today as they were in 1955 when they were written.” –Jennifer Fernandez

For contemporary fiction, Kate Davis, Director of the Resilient Leaders Project, offers a few recommendations:

Anything by Toni Morrison, but both and have stayed with me for their personal-meets-mythic/biblical narratives.
by Zadie Smith, which (among many other themes) offers complex views on religious differences in family dynamics.
by Yaa Gyasi crosses continents to lament the legacy of slavery both in North America and in Africa.
by Nigerian author Ayobami Adebayo struck me for framing relationship choices within context (what we think of as ‘conservative’—monogamy—is wildly progressive for the protagonists) and for the devastating impact of religious beliefs on a woman’s body and mental wellbeing.

Mary Oliver and the Poetry of Love

Beau Denton — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 15:00:11 +0000

Artists often occupy a prophetic role in culture, speaking truth, beauty, and goodness into a world desperately in need of them. They help guide us to those thin places where the gap between what is and what could be is not quite so daunting. The poet Mary Oliver lived into this call with a grace and generosity that endeared her to readers for more than 50 years. Here, Beau Denton (MA in Counseling Psychology, ‘17), Content Curator, reflects on the gifts Mary left us with, and on why she might have resonated so deeply with many in our community.

“Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”
–Mary Oliver

On January 17, for just a few hours, part of our collective online life seemed to take on a different tone. The usual frenzy was jarred by news of Mary Oliver’s death, and as word spread it set the Internet afire with grief and gratitude and poetry. Given the storms underway around us and the anxious pace of our discourse, Mary’s quiet prevalence that day reflects something of how unique she was, how holy the gifts she left us.

In my corner of the Internet, this phenomenon was especially noticeable among my ��Ƶ friends and colleagues—because few voices have seeped into the pulse of this community so thoroughly and so generously. Of course, certain writers shape a pivotal moment in particular classes: first-year students often develop a begrudging affection for Martin Buber and his fondness for talking to trees; Harry Middleton’s gorgeous memoir The Earth Is Enough prompts an assignment with which Dan Allender’s students are on a first-name basis; in theology classes, many students bond in common conviction and inspiration under the work of James Cone; and Annie Rogers’s A Shining Affliction is a beloved rite of passage in the Counseling Psychology program.

Fewer writers, though, manage to impact the rhythms and tones of life in our red brick building even when they are not officially assigned in class. And perhaps none have done so with as much resonance as Mary Oliver—a matriarch of ��Ƶ whose words stir somewhere deep in the heart of this place.

With the authority of a voice at home with itself, Mary called us to listen and pay attention. Sometimes her call came as a gentle whisper, and other times it felt more like a slap in the face: look up, at the gray sky you take for granted; look down, at the wet soil knotted with roots; look in, at the self you have forgotten. In a way, she was echoing that other Mary, who teaches us that even the bravado of wise men and the chaos of exile might evoke in us a moment of attentive pondering.

“In a way, she was echoing that other Mary, who teaches us that even the bravado of wise men and the chaos of exile might evoke in us a moment of attentive pondering.”

But attention itself is not the goal, learning from her long-time partner Molly: “Attention without feeling, I began to learn, is only a report. An openness—an empathy—was necessary if the attention was to matter.” It’s why her famous “instructions for living a life” don’t end at “pay attention,” though that is the crucial point from which everything else follows. Instead, attention leads to astonishment, and astonishment turns us toward others. It seems that the work of paying attention and opening ourselves to wonder is not complete until it also deepens our capacity for love.

Love, then, is where Mary leads us, and it’s why the Internet, for just a moment, felt like such a kind place on that sad day. Because so many of us, in one way or another, learned something from Mary about what it means to love. In the profound simplicity of her work, she assured us that love is not resounding gongs and clanging cymbals. In her long, inquisitive walks she proclaimed that presence and attunement are the elements of love, and that those are grown through the repetition and discipline of ritual. And in not shying from grief after her partner’s death, she reminded us that love can be excruciating and raw—that it sometimes comes as a gift in

Mary taught us again and again that love is most fully itself when it is omnidirectional: outward, inward, up, down, around—each avenue nourished by and dependent upon the others. If you treat the with impatience and contempt, she seemed to be asking us, how can you hope to love others any differently? If you stop listening to the earth and all that breathes and pulses around you, how can you maintain the intrigue that gives love wings? And if you are not at home in your own self, will you ever be home anywhere else?

Somehow, when Mary’s work asked big questions or spoke a truth that shot like lightning through our bones, it never felt as if she was lecturing or preaching at us. She offered a small thing well said, a bit like walking on the beach with a friend who stoops to collect a seashell. “Here,” she says, dropping it into our palm, “look what I found.” Then she’s off, continuing her walk and letting us decide what to do with her gift.

That is why she could reach refrigerator-magnet-level prevalence and still feel as if she was speaking directly to you, her reader. When she said, it was both a universal proclamation and the close comfort of a dear friend, offering a cup of tea to bring our anxious frenzy back to the earth. She was both wise teacher and gentle companion.

There are some who were skeptical of this, who believed that Mary’s presence on Pinterest and postcards must mean her work was somehow less beautiful or important. Her critics often championed the suspicious belief that popularity betrays a work as shallow or false, like the easy pleasure and empty insight you might find on Top 40 radio. But I would argue that Mary’s widespread resonance was deeper than that. She saw something true of our world and ourselves, and she offered it to us as a free gift—simply wrapped, shyly given, no strings attached. And we loved her for it.

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Not A Luxury: On Women’s Voices and National Poetry Month

Brittany Deininger — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 14:00:54 +0000

In honor of National Poetry Month, poet-theologian Brittany Deininger reflects on how poetry is a place of both radical resistance and beautiful intersectionality. Brittany reminds us of the fierce vitality of honest, embodied art, and she shares a list of her favorite contemporary women poets. Happy reading!

What does it mean to read? This question has been on my mind as we entered National Poetry Month. In a world where our attention has become the greatest commodity, which voices we choose to listen to in the cacophony is not a neutral act. Much of my own reading is driven by a deep hunger to hear a diversity of other women’s voices. The root of good writing is good reading. In particular, I gravitate toward women who wield the medium which Audre Lorde once referred to as, “a revelation and distillation of experience.” Poetry’s communication has immediacy that taps into the way we feel, forge memory, and make meaning. As both oral and written art, it has held the human voice throughout the ages with embodied particularity. And yet, there are so many voices and bodies that have not been heard. This art form so defined by active attention has much to teach us about how to listen and the empathetic responsibility we have to hear one another well.

In 1985, poet Audre Lorde wrote a fierce and stunning essay called, “Poetry is Not a Luxury.” In it, her poetic prose argued that, “For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we give name to the nameless so it can be thought.” For Lorde, “poetry” was a soulful shorthand for an artistic and cultural process of women listening to their lives and finding a form of communication that gave it privilege, shape, identity, and freedom. She saw poetry as having a particular relationship with the ineffable. Where there was wordlessness and namelessness, this art form gave birth to voice, efficacy, and action.

“The root of good writing is good reading.”

For this very reason, poetry played a huge role throughout the women’s movement. In his chapter, “The Poetical is the Political” T.V. Reed highlights how the movement of the 1960s and 70s used the art form to claim public space and name oppressions and inequalities that were relegated to the realms of the private, the personal, and the “non-political.” The foundational act of poetry is to make visible the invisible world. Feminist and Womanist poets addressed the invisibility both of women’s experiences and the patriarchal systems that went unnamed and invisible to the normative eye. Through poetry, personal experience could become collective experiences, which made way for consciousness raising, theory, activism, and change. The epistemological shift within the movement and the poetry it wielded was to count women’s lived experiences as knowledge. That knowledge had language and power of presence to deconstruct the binaries of public and private, emotion and reason.

Now as then, poetry is a place of radical resistance. To celebrate one’s life and its wisdom through art is a kind of protest against systems that undermine and demand its silence. Spoken word and hip-hop artists, poets and storytellers around the world continue in the movement toward women’s equality by sharing the truth of their experiences in their own voices. What it means to read is to choose to listen. This April, I invite you to listen to contemporary voices of women through this ancient and ever-new art form. Poetry is not a luxury. Listening to the voices of women is not a luxury.

Where to Start: Recommended Reading

This list represents just 25 of my favorite books of poetry by women that have powerfully impacted the way I think, read, and create as a poet. To narrow the list, I chose women who’ve published books of poetry between 2000-2018. I’ve permitted myself exceptions by including newly published volumes of complete works by some of my favorite poets. These voices represent the beautiful intersectionality that we write from as women. Their art diversely navigates nationality, race, sexual orientation, embodiment, age, religion, and class. Some are prolific greats and others are exciting emerging voices. All have robust and prophetic insight from their locatedness in the world. Whether you’re dipping a toe into poetry or already have a robust practice, may these suggestions help you discover, return to, and share your favorites!

25 Recommended Books of Poetry by Women:
(Selections published between 2000-2018 appear in alphabetical order by last name.)

Crave Radiance, Elizabeth Alexander (former US Poet Laureate)
Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin, edited and compiled by Philip Cushway and Michael Warr. This anthology features work from a variety of poets.
Bone, Yrsa Daley-Ward
Head Off and Split, Nikky Finney
Faithful and Virtuous Night, Louise Glück (National Book Award Winner)
How We Became Human and Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, Joy Harjo
The Kingdom of Ordinary Time, Marie Howe
Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur
B and No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay
Inside Out and Back Again, Thanhhà Lại (This is a children’s Newberry Honor book of poetry about immigrating from Vietnam to Alabama amidst the Vietnam War. It could be a great way to include children in this reading activity.)
Whereas, Layli Long Soldier (National Book Award Finalist)
The Collected Poems of Denise Levertov, Denise Levertov, edited by Paul A. Lacey and Anne Dewey
The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde, Audre Lorde
A Maze Me: Poems for Girls, Naomi Shihab Nye (This is a great selection to share with children and young adults.) See also Words Under Words, and Red Suitcase
Thirst, Mary Oliver
The Art of Blessing the Day, Marge Piercy
Citizen, Claudia Rankine (Finalist for the National Book Award; .)
The Collected Poems of Muriel Rukeyser, Muriel Rukeyser edited by Janet E. Kaufman and Anne F. Herzog
The Best of It: New and Selected Poems, Kay Ryan (former US Poet Laureate)
Cries of the Spirit, edited by Marilyn Sewell (anthology of 300 poems celebrating women’s spirituality)
Unbearable Splendor, 신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin
Here and Map: Collected and Last Poems, Wisława Szymborshka, translated by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak
Thrall and Native Guard, Natasha Trethewey (former US Poet Laureate)
Salt and Nejma, Nayyirah Waheed
Love Without Limits: The Bi-Laws of Love, Yazmin Monet Watkins

Resources for Further Reading and Engagement with National Poetry Month

Audre Lorde, “Poetry Is Not A Luxury,” in .
T.V. Reed, “The Poetical Is the Political: Feminist Poetry and the Poetics of Women’s Rights,” in .
Alice Walker, “Saving the Life That Is Your Own: The Importance of Models in the Artist’s Life,” in .
Looking for things to do in Seattle to celebrate National Poetry Month? Check out .
Seattle is lucky enough to have a poetry-only bookstore. Check out events or just wander into the sublime .
April 26, 2018 is . Join the national tradition by selecting a favorite and carrying it with you.

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