Poetry Chapbook Collection
What is a chapbook? A classic method of publishing poetry in simple side-stapled format that is relatively inexpensive and easy to reproduce in small quantities. This will help us to keep these booklets in print for a long time. They are printed on fine resume-stock papers with very simple graphics (if any) and a short author bio at the end.
Endless Winter Nights at Monk’s Lagoon
This collection by Mother Macaria Corbett of St. Xenia Skete in Indianapolis, IN, in some ways chronicles her spiritual life. The first selections are from before her tonsure into monasticism and several were written about a formative period spent in Alaska. She consistently writes about her her inner spiritual journey, searching for prayer and stillness. Sections are titled: Night of the Great Soul-Famine; The Heart’s New longing; Endless Winter Nights at Monk’s Lagoon; Poultice of Stillness; Underground Waters; There’s More in the Silence than Earth can Tell. Includes an Introduction by Christopher Lewis. Cream interior, thyme recycled cover, 45 pages.
For a Nun Leaving Spruce Island
When you think of the woods on St. Herman’s Island,
Remember how tree beyond tree stands stunted
In all the lower branches, like wounded
Soldiers with moss-rounded stumps where limbs should be
While their upper boughs lift glad palms toward the sun.
When that wild North wind seeks to bring them harm,
Some gained strength to stand by the loss of an arm.
I think of them as monks, though I haven’t
Learned their lesson – I haven’t let my will or worries
Decay and fall. Close to the ground my thoughts tend
And forget to lift the heart toward heaven –
Yet I pray that you and I will learn to be
As one of these, old, winter-worn warrior.
Eternal Day Breaks Over
Fr. Richard Rene breathes new life into contemporary poetry by painting with a unique, striking language about spiritual life. He conveys the simple, beautiful experience of small moments in life, often invisible, with hauntingly wistful imagery. His collection includes sections entitled Of Journey; Of Water; Prayers Overheard; Learning to Fly. Gray interior, blue parchment or linen cover, 41 pages.
At Rainfall
Only the rain is infinite
Filling drop by drop an ocean
Behind my eyes. And each drop bears
Another kind of clarity
Another depth which I descend
And go on descending, never
Touching the pure earth. Yes, I see
Those vast dry spaces where breathing
Will be remembered, but only
Here, where the rain is infinite,
Can water crush my spirit, and
Force my heart into simplicity.
Bearing Myrrh
This collection with poets Mother Macaria Corbett, Frances Hall Ford, Ruth Greenfield, Claire Bateman and Rene Zitzloff takes the reader on a journey. It is a conversation about many topics important to women such as childhood, relationships, marriage, birth, children, sacrifice, giving, disappointment, hope, and prayer. The reader gets the sense of taking a walk with a thoughtful group of Orthodox sisters quietly discussing the most important things in life. Cream recycled interior, rose recycled cover, 39 pages.
Ark of Life
Ark of Life,
Who carried amid this world’s destruction
The Ever-lasting Hope
And arc of Life,
From whose bow of peace
Sprang forth the Lifegiver
To renew His habited world,
Mother of Life, pray for us
Overwhelmed by the ocean’s waves.
-Frances Hall Ford
Lethe
Mark Isherwood’s collection is named for the river of forgetfulness in Greek mythology and it examines themes of loss, technology and longing, among others. It is written in a minimalist style with musical touches and a variety of forms throughout. It is our longest chapbook and forays into many corners, all tied together lightly by the question of memory.
Paradeisos
Rick Joines’ poetry is personable, intimate, and curious. Paradeisos is a refreshing portrait of human relationships with the Divine. Drawing on life experiences in marriage, church services, and an active life of thought, striking jewels are carved with words which pose the questions and observations of life.
Paradeisos