Poetry

141 pieces in this column

• Summer Storm by Ann Boaden · Summer/Fall 2026
• Strawberry Moon by Ann Boaden · Summer/Fall 2026
• Fall Bee by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2025-26
• I will let winter by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2025-26
• Words (for a hundred issues) by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2025
• Midwest Afternoon on the Porch by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2025
• Waiting by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2024
• Silent Retreat at a Trappist Monastery by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2024
• Light a Candle (“Tänd ljus") by Bo Setterlind and translated by Mark Safstrom · Fall/Winter 2024
• Fire Tender by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2024
• To the Bats in the Sanctuary by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2024

  Last fall, the sanctuary of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Rock Island, Illinois, became home to a community of bats. Because bats are a protected species that mates in the fall, the sanctuary was vacated while the bat-babies were born and nurtured. Worship services moved to the social hall. Parishioners were encouraged to show eco-hospitality by learning about and celebrating these fellow tenants of our church and our world. This poem is one of the responses.

• Poetry by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2023-2024

  Mary after Annunciation; Winter Along the Mississippi

• Summer Dusk by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2023
• Lot’s Wife by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2022
• Somewhere a cardinal by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2022
• Summer Hail by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2022
• If you are quiet enough… by Lois Hermansen · Fall/Winter 2021
• Epiphany by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2021
• Julian: the Showings by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2021
• Madrigal by Tomas Tranströmer and translated by Tom Tredway · Spring/Summer 2021
• The Uncomfortable Life by Jon Knudsen · Fall/Winter 2020
• Shepherds play for the baby Jesus by Alice Tegnér and translated by Mark Safstrom · Fall/Winter 2020
• Leviathan by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2020
• Mages by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2020
• Grace by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2020
• Two Days by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2020
• And then there was Jim by Doug Johnson · Spring/Summer 2020
• A Handful of Earth by Richard Priggie · Fall/Winter 2019
• Advent Baptism by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2019
• Advent Light by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2019
• “Cries” by Ann Boaden · Fall/Winter 2019
• The Waiting Room by Greg Asimakoupoulos · Fall/Winter 2019
• Man After Diagnosis by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2019
• Paraclete by Ann Boaden · Spring/Summer 2019
• Upper Room by Mindi Bach · Spring/Summer 2019
• Holy Wings by Yenta · Spring/Summer 2018
• The Wilderness by Mindi Bach · Spring/Summer 2017
• Poetry Corner by Arthur Mampel · Spring/Summer 2016

  A while ago, when I was composing a poem about spring, I thought about William Wordsworth and his verse, “The World Is Too Much with Us.”

• Turning by Chrissy Larson · Spring/Summer 2016
• Truth Comes Riding a Donkey by Erik G. Nelson · Spring/Summer 2015
• Blossom like a desert rose by N.F.S. Grundtvig and translated by Mark Safstrom · Fall/Winter 2013

• A Reader’s Carol by Anonymous and translated by Mark Safstrom · Fall/Winter 2013

• Simeon’s Gift by Clifford Biel · Fall/Winter 2013
• In God my soul rests as on placid water by Carl Boberg and translated by Mark Safstrom · Spring/Summer 2013
• Do what little you can by Lina Sandell and translated by Mark Safstrom · Spring/Summer 2013
• The Window by Arthur Mampel · Spring/Summer 2013
• At the change of the year by Carl Boberg and translated by Mark Safstrom · Fall/Winter 2012

• Perplexing and Amazing by Hans Adolph Brorson and translated by Mark Safstrom · Fall/Winter 2012

• The Body by Arthur Mampel · Fall/Winter 2012
• Linear History by Arthur Mampel · Fall/Winter 2012
• Wild Raspberries by Yenta · Fall/Winter 2012
• The Beggar Children by Carl Boberg and translated by Mark Safstrom · Spring/Summer 2012

• Arisen is the Christ by N.F.S. Grundtvig and translated by Mark Safstrom · Spring/Summer 2012

• The Late Years by Arthur Mampel · Spring/Summer 2012

• Advent is Here by Carl Boberg and translated by Mark Safstrom · Fall/Winter 2011
• The Sailor and the Wind by Carl Boberg and translated by Mark Safstrom · Spring/Summer 2011
• A Sonnet for Gardeners by John C. Streed · Spring/Summer 2011
• Faith by Clark Johnson · Spring/Summer 2011
• Pieces by Clark Johnson · Spring/Summer 2011
• Star of Bethlehem by Viktor Rydberg and translated by Mark Safstrom · Fall/Winter 2010
• The Great Recession by Arthur Mampel · Spring/Summer 2010
• Credo by Victoria Millar · Spring/Summer 2010
• Fireflies by Yenta · Spring/Summer 2010
• Now I Lay Me Down To Dreams by Sandy Johnson · Spring/Summer 2010
• Creation by Don Olson · Spring/Summer 2010
• Poem: Advent by Arthur Mampel · Epiphany 2010

• Springtime for the Nation by Arthur Mampel · Christmas 2008
• The Last Chapter by Arthur Mampel · Spring 2008
• The Farmer and His Wife by Arthur Mampel · Christmas 2007
• Every day by Bill Wahman · Christmas 2007
• Then by Robert Simmons · Christmas 2007
• The Reign of Hope by Dick Stahl · Spring 2007
• TIME by Kurt Langsten · Spring 2007
• We Who Were Beautiful by Arthur Mampel · Spring 2007
• Poems for Claire by Arthur Mampel · Summer 2006

  Sleepy Head; Her Majesty; Gift Giver; Moclips

• Moving On by Phil Johnson · Winter 2004-2005
• Beyond Words by Katie Pratt · Summer 2002
• After, Always After by Joyce Sutphen · Summer 2001
• Peace Lacks the Ambition of War Spring 2001
• A Wild Surmise by Arthur Mampel · Winter 2000
• Winter Supper by Andrejika Hough · Winter 2000
• My Imagination Wanders by Evan Leister · Summer 2000
• Cotton and Rock Island Railroad by Tom Hubler · Fall 1999
• Just To Be In Skin Deserves A Medal by Arthur Mampel · Fall 1999
• Restricted Living translated by Tommy Carlson · Summer 1999
• The longest clouds follow late November by Sydney Giovenco · Summer 1999
• To Pietisten Members: Annual Meeting Challenge by Phil Johnson · Winter 1999
• Sundog and The Upland Pines III by Sydney Giovenco · Winter 1999
• An die Musik by Carl Johnson · Winter 1999
• on cutting down that norway pine by Vernoy Johnson · Summer 1997
• Seeking Heaven by Ed Mampel · Spring 1997
• Chapel Hero by C. Reuben Anderson · Fall 1996
• thoughts on the day we took in the sailboat by Vernoy Johnson · Fall 1996
• Sweet Baptismal Waters by Arthur Bowman · Fall 1995

  Gracious God, our Lord and sure defender / We sing your name, we worship and adore.

• Rachel by Kari Sandstrom French · Fall 1995

  We hold hands walking to the cafeteria, both aware she is a casualty of the reading lesson.

• Megan by Fred Cervin · Fall 1995

  we have been sitting so long / here on the verandah / high above the sea / watching the changing moods / of the shore

• The Pioneer Parson by Ethel Swanson Palmberg · Spring 1995

  He came . . . driven by an irresistible power, the power of love for those who sought a new home in the wilderness.

• Distance by Dennis Jones · Fall 1994

  The talk of light years goes gently around the table, as though we’re talking of a cross-town trip.

• The In-The-World Christian by Ed Mampel · Summer 1994

  Like Hamlet, at midnight, / Clad in suit and cloak of black, / Awaiting his father’s ghost to appear, / To begin his story:

• Änglamark — Angel-Garden by Evert Taube and translated by Elder M. Lindahl · Summer 1994

  Call it an Angel-Garden or Paradise, if you will, / the earth we received with green groves is heavenly, / buttercups, wildroses, and daisies on every hill, / please let them live, they are truly so lovely!

• Aware by Arthur Mampel · Summer 1994

  Time seduces the blood, / blurs the sight of the / Traveller on his way / from sun to sun.

• Sleepers, Don’t Wake! by Don Norris · Spring 1994

  It’s time you learn of that fraternity / Of stay-at-home and fell insomniac; / Slaves of time and space, we do contract / Needed travel, dreamful sleep without calamity.

• The Book of Hours by Rainer Maria Rilke · Winter 1993

  I find you, Lord, in all Things and in all my fellow creatures, pulsing with your life; as a tiny seed you sleep in what is small and in the vast you vastly yield yourself.

• Gophers Scurry by John Lindholm · Fall 1993

  On a hill not so far away - - down the deer path where the creek meets the pasture and up the bank where wind blows over long grasses on a sun shiny day --

• An Anti-Missile Missile by Robert Emerine · Fall 1993
• Good Reverend Ray by Arthur Mampel · Summer 1993

  From hallowed halls to city street Young Cleric made his way; He knew in time that he would meet The brighter, better day

• A Meditation in Doggerel by Douglas Cedarleaf · Summer 1993

  I wonder as I ponder on love and on law How each mighty concept has tended to draw The ardor of Christians who loudly declare That one with the other just never may share.

• Walker Percy (1916-1990) by Arthur Mampel · Spring 1993

  “Above all, we see the man in all his shifting moods, ‘the gracious, easy, almost avuncular manner straining against a powerful, furious, intensity, an almost furious energy.’ Here is the dark tragedy, the humor, the hard-earned wisdom of a life whose outward calm concealed an internal drama — an unrelenting fight against hopelessness and despair.” — Pilgrim in the Ruins — Jay Tolson

• Remembering You by Ed Mampel · Winter 1992
• The Toys by Coventry Patmore · Fall 1992
• Summer by Max Carlson · Summer 1992
• Eric Enters Sunday School by Don Erickson · Summer 1992

  Mother Melissa and Father Phil took this day (A fall day) small, evidently unfallen Eric — Too young to have told a lie, much less Swear, or hit a brother on the head — To a church where some reverend person Wet his head one, two, three times, And distracted even his parents With words and more words concerning some Ancient baby, some other first-born son, Who — apparently — was bigger, or Had a greater family, including a bird... .

• A Day Prayer by Ed Mampel · Spring 1992
• Peace by Max Carlson · Winter 1991
• Kids Play by Anders Blomgren · Winter 1991
• Quiet Still by Dave Liljengren · Fall 1991
• Friends by Aaron Markuson · Fall 1991
• The Old Painter by David Mampel · Summer 1991
• Mrs. Halleen Was Wearing Earrings! by Graig Nordstrom · Spring 1991
• On the Death of a Metaphysican by George Santayana · Spring 1991
• The Oxen by Thomas Hardy · Winter 1990
• When I Grow Up by Max Carlson · Fall 1990
• Praise by Rainer Maria Rilke · Fall 1990
• Somebody’s Always Stealing Swede’s Shoes by Ed Mampel · Summer 1990
• Ground-breaking by David Mampel · Spring 1990
• All This And Hot Water, Too by Michael Hardin · Winter 1989
• To What Serves Mortal Beauty? by Gerard Manley Hopkins · Winter 1989
• They Shall Be Oaks of Righteousness by Dennis Moon · Fall 1989
• Nyvall by Drew Throws · Fall 1989
• Din sorg är din by Viktor Rydberg and translated by Tommy Carlson · Summer 1989
• Love by George Herbert · Summer 1989

• Hesiodos' Råd by Viktor Rydberg and translated by Tommy Carlson · Spring 1989
• Peace in the World by Max Carlson · Spring 1989

• Vad gagnar det en människa? by Pär Lagerkvist and translated by Tommy Carlson · Winter 1988

• Prismatic Christ by Pauline Lenore Larson · Fall 1988

• The Pulley by George Herbert · Spring 1988

• When I Am Gone by Erik Hawkinson · Winter 1988

• Traveler (Selected Passages) by David Mampel · Fall 1987

• Minister at Kokee Lodge by Arthur Mampel · Fall 1987
• Before Winter by Arthur Mampel · Summer 1987

• From a Stonewalled Birch-Spired Land by Dennis Moon · Summer 1986