Tag: new poetry

Posted on

solace | spring playlist


Spring is coming.

I have to constantly remind myself of this. I have to muscle my way through the grey days, through the grasping cold snaps in February and March, through the frosts that kill the early daffodils before they can even bloom. Midwest winters can be brutal. I get glimpses that winter’s hold on us is loosening with the “false springs” we get sometimes: a warm weekend, or a day when the sun shows it’s weather-beaten face. We all collectively lift our faces to it, close our eyes, and nod in gratitude. We take a deep breath, preparing to go under again for a few more days. Winter isn’t easily beaten here.

Spring is the season of resurrection and new life. But the weeks before things really start to burst and grow are, appropriately, Lenten in their scope. We work the ground, we plant the seeds, we remember that we are dust, and we look expectantly to the life we are promised. So even in a season marked by life, we are scarred by death.

When I wrote some of the primary poems in this season for the book, I was thinking through what it means to encounter death as a resurrected person. When I met Christ, the first thing He did to me was to kill me, and He’s been putting me to death ever since. Unless I realize my death, I will never realize my life. But beyond the metaphors, I was encountering the very real sting of physical death at the time. What did this resurrection, which waits and waits and waits yet again to bring about our rising, have to do with this everyday reality? What kind of hope is this that only shows its face in glimpses and slivers?

So in some sense, writing these poems was a way to know death, to remind myself that grief is not an end in itself, but a way of life. This was my way of embracing the thing I hated, but not without the hope that was coming – however far away – relentless as the encroaching sun at the end of winter.

And with these poems came songs to sing in the night.

So friends, you who are weary of winter and ready for some light and warmth, here it is: poem by poem, song by song, the spring season of SOLACE.

(You can pick up a copy of the book at my shop or on Bookshop.org to read along)

TRACKLIST:
1. chicago in season ii / Chicago (Sufjan Stevens)
2. invocation / The Matins of St. Clare (Respighi)
3. stay with me / Monarch (Zach Winters)
4. nestling / How Can I Keep From Singing (Audrey Assad)
5. receive / Hero Over My Head (Kings Kaleidoscope)
6. spring cleaning / Freedom (Tim Fain)
7. elements: the taste of earth / Digging in the Sand (Josh Rouse)
8. elements: the smell of smoke / Golden Embers (Mandolin Orange)
9. elements: the sound of air / Sound (Sylvan Esso)
10. elements: the impact of water / The Cure for Pain (Jon Foreman)
11. a leaf, taken / Leaf (Nick Box)
12. nadia / Light a Candle (Andy Gullahorn)
13. triptych for Holy Week: absentia / Tourniquet (Breaking Benjamin)
14. triptych for Holy Week: limbo / Rattle (Penny and Sparrow)
15. triptych for Holy Week: absolutio / His Heart Beats (Andrew Peterson)
16. (soon) / The Lord Is Coming (Scott Mulvahill)
17. majestic / This House (Sara Groves)
18. blackbird / Blackbird (The Beatles)

Posted on

we made a book

Tomorrow, I will release SOLACE, my first collection of poems, into the wild.

The last few months have been full, to say the least. In the midst of all of the chaos surrounding making the book, editing, proofing, working with Josie on the design and artwork, navigating the printer’s requirements, ineptly “marketing” this thing, and getting copies out to Indiegogo supporters (you know who you are and I know how awesome you are), normal life still went on. Or rather, in the midst of normal life, all the other things went on. I’m at work from morning to evening and a dad until the kids are in bed, and then I kick whatever energy I have left into overdrive on all of the other things.

I’m so grateful to all of you who supported this project, for all who made it a reality through editing and encouraging, for all who pre-ordered (which you can still do!)

I did not make this book. We made this book.

taking the next step

Today (which I’m referring to as “SOLACE eve” henceforth and forevermore), as I’m flipping out and flipping through this little volume, I’m surprised at what has grown out of something so simple. Several years ago, when I began writing poetry in earnest, I determined to keep myself honest by posting one poem every week on my blog. This habit grew into a steady stream of poetry, which was then bolstered by the merry poets of the Poetry Pub.

This book came out of just doing the next thing. Or rather, making the next thing.

One poem led to the next, to the next, to the next, until a vision for how they all fit together materialized. From this, all I needed was a push out the door by a party of very generous dwarves and wizards. Yes, publishing a book is a lot of work. But that kind of a journey starts with taking the next step, and then letting your community in on it.

I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but here it is: make the next thing, and let your community in. You might be surprised at where it leads you.

experiencing SOLACE this winter

So, fair warning, in the next couple of weeks I’m going to be talking a bit about this book. But I hope to do so by creating avenues for all of you readers to experience these poems in new and exciting ways. In that spirit, here are two upcoming avenues I’m stoked about…

I’ll be doing live “Behind the Broken Season” events on my Facebook page starting this Friday (and then probably every three or four weeks or so). These will include poetry readings, random rabbit trails, and Q&A opportunities, all over at my Facebook page. There will also be some GIVEAWAYS during these, so if you like free stuff and poetry, tune in! It won’t just be me bloviating, I promise. Like my page to receive notifications about these, and join me for the first one this Friday!

Next Monday I’ll be releasing a companion playlist to the Winter season of the book. I don’t think I can properly communicate how excited I am about this, friends. I’m a sucker for experiencing multiple forms of art together; it offers dimension and layers that would previously never have been explored. I love that all art is influenced in some way by the art around it, and this playlist is an opportunity to experience that. Plus, I’m having a blast choosing the music…

Friends, thanks for joining me on the adventure!

P. S. Remember, today is your LAST chance to pre-order the book, because tomorrow you’d just be ordering it like everyone else. Be a pre-orderer, not an ordinary orderer.