From Pandemic to Protest

When the world came to a stop, poets picked up their pens. From a global pandemic to the Black Lives Matter protests; from a highly contested election to murder hornets; and from devastating wildfires to deadly disasters, these poems not only share the truth of what we endured, they reveal the heartbreak, frustration, and anger, tempered by our resiliency and hope for a better tomorrow.

Contributing Poets from Around the Globe:

Dee Allen • Pamela R. Anderson • Tiel Aisha Ansari • Devon Balwit • Carol Barrett • David Belmont • J V Birch • Joann Renee Boswell • Sarah Bricault • Suzanne Bruce • Nancy Cook • Brittney Corrigan • Mick Corrigan • Terry Cox-Joseph • Kelly Cunningham • Tracy Davidson • Ann Farley • Linda Ferguson • Eric Forsbergh • Catherine Fraga • Josh Gaines • Tim Gillespie • Erika B. Girard • Darlene H. Glover • Joanne Godley • Adrianna Gordey • Jan Haag • Anne Harding Woodworth • Suzy Harris • Nicci Harrison • Andrea Hollander • Hadley Hutton • Linda Jackson Collins • David James • Marilyn Johnston • Jeanne Julian • J.I. Kleinberg • Lynn M. Knapp • Tricia Knoll • Elizabeth Kuelbs • Lynda La Rose • Bethany Lee • Rebecca K. Leet • Sherri Hope Levine • Lori Levy • Robinwyn Lewis • Sue Fagalde Lick • Annie Lighthart • Ellaraine Lockie • Christopher Luna • Heather M. F. Lyke • Carolyn Martin • Kate Maxwell • M. F. McAuliffe • Eileen McGurn • Carter McKenzie • Hannah Mead • Barbara A. Meier • Jacob Miller • Angie Minkin • Joan Moritz • Wilda Morris • Susan Woods Morse • CJ Muchhala • Annie Klier Newcomer • Cristina M. R. Norcross • Susan Oguche • Bibiana O. Ossai • Ronald J. Pelias • Alan Perry • Bruce Pratt • Jennifer Pratt-Walter • Donna Prinzmetal • Anne Rankin • Susan Rich • Sandra Rivers-Gill • Danielle Roberts • Jeannie E. Roberts • Maria Rosales • Ed Ruzicka • Joel Savishinsky • JoAnna Scandiffio • Deborah Bachels Schmidt • Eileen Ivey Sirota • Merna Dyer Skinner • Emily-Sue Sloane • Joseph Stefani • Barbara E. Stevens • Bill Stifler • Stephanie Striffler • John Sweeder • Judy Taylor • Mark Thalman • Pasquale Trozzolo • Dianalee Velie • Bill Verble • Alise Versella • Rashna Wadia • Phyllis Wax • Ann Weil • Phillip Wilson • Sharon Wood Wortman • Robin Woolman • Jane Yolen

Enjoy a Few Poets Sharing Their Poems from the Book:

“When in Kansas?” by Pasquale Trozzolo

“The SS Revisited” by Jane Yolen

“Fires This Time” by Carolyn Martin

“Prayer for the Healer and the Healing” by Deborah Bachels Schmidt

“Creating a Wave of Blue” by Cristina Norcross

“COVID in Bloom” by Lynn Knapp

“Flatten the Curve” and “Shelter in Place”

by Brittney Corrigan

“MARCH: Our Duty to Make it Right” by Erika B. Girard

“Manish Boy” by Pamela R. Anderson

“Invisible Wounds” and “What I Want to Tell You”

by Merna Dyer Skinner

“The Color of It” by Jeanne Julian

“California Wildfires, as Seen from the East Coast during a Pandemic”
by Anne Harding Woodworth

“Pick-Up at J.C. Penney’s” by Ronald J. Pelias

“A Greek Tragedy” by Emily-Sue Sloane

“True or False” by Lori Levy

“protester / police” by Joann Renee Boswell

“Corona Two-Step” plus bonus poem by Tim Gillespie

The post The Poeming Pigeon: From Pandemic to Protest appeared first on The Poetry Box.

by Stanford Searl

Mary Dyer’s Hymn and Other Quaker Poems constructs poetic songs which open-up multiple dimensions of an embodied sensibility of the conflicts between Puritans and Quakers in 17th century Massachusetts. There are a number of themes as presented in these poems, including:

• Many of the poems sing about how in 17th century Massachusetts, the embodied soul matters in Quaker writing, action and thinking.
• Some of the poems enter into a visionary consciousness of 17th century Quaker men and one Quaker woman (Mary Dyer) who demonstrate what it meant to be a prophet and then a martyr as well.
• At times, the poems present a satirical critique of key Puritan assumptions about how they thought that Quakers were dangerous heretics, aligned with Satanic impulses and thought that Quakers were possessed by error and sin.
• Some of the poems illustrate how many of the Quaker prophets felt the immediate presence of the Divine or God through the experience of the indwelling Christ.
• A few of the poems explore the imaginative, visionary relevance my 9th great-grandfather, a contemporary figure and his friend Roger Williams, both dissidents and founders of Rhode Island.
• The poems offer visionary, expressive and expansive language drawn from the types and shadows of Old Testament prophets.
• The poems illustrate the importance of Roger Williams and his vigorous dissent from the Puritan orthodoxy and his sympathy for the Narragansett native people.

About the Author

Stanford Searl lives in Culver City, California with his wife, Rebecca Warren Searl and is a member of the non-pastoral Santa Monica Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Santa Monica, California. For nearly twenty-five years, Searl was a Core Professor in an interdisciplinary doctoral program at Union Institute & University until the program closed in 2012. He has published two books about Quaker silent worship, including Voices from the Silence and The Meanings of Silence in Quaker Worship, both published in 2005 and a book of poems, Quaker Poems: The Heart Opened in 2014.

In 2016, Foothills Press published his poetry book, Homage to the Lady with the Dirty Feet and other Vermont Poems and in early 2019, Kelsay Books published a poetry chapbook, the autobiographical Songs for Diana, poems that explore the life and death of his severely handicapped child.

He is working on a new full-length book of poems, The Cider-Press Man and other poems of Long Island’s North Fork. Details about some of these poems appear on his website, stansearl.com and he is on Facebook as well.

Advance Praise:

This, for me, is Stanford Searl at his strongest, blending the themes of space, place, and memory, with the theme of Mary Dyer’s martyrdom, part of his faith heritage. The collection is poignant and lyrical and yet also apocalyptic in the ways it continually lifts the veil and pulls it aside to reveal another layer of a still more subtle sensibility. This is a collection that for all the Quaker silent prayer is musical and melodic in the way it calls to us. Searl engages past and present, roots and routes, to offer us fresh visions of how we can relate to the confusion of the human condition in our everyday context.

—Ben Pink Dandelion, Professor of Quaker Studies, Woodbrooke

Stanford Searl’s tender, lyrical poetry leads us into a past time, arrested, yet brought to life, with mystery and nuance. The harsh receptivity of the Northeast Colonies to anyone not Puritan is laid bare, accompanied by strains of music, sounds of the living marshes, prophecies of my ancient Quaker Mothers of Israel. These courageous souls, neither male nor female in Christ, faithful in the face of hideous persecution challenge my complacency and sometimes tepid engagement with the Spirit. The cruel realities of that fear driven time and place, sadly familiar to our condition today, are juxtaposed with the messages of God’s sure presence. The compelling narrative contained in this delicate collection leaves me buoyed up and inspired by the joy and certitude to which these early Friends gave witness. “I am already in Paradise.”

—Deborah L. Shaw, Recorded Minister,
Director Emeritus of Guilford College’s Quaker Leadership Scholars Program

In 1880, John Greenleaf Whittier poetically evoked the sacrifice of Quaker martyrs to the fears and prejudice of the Puritans in “The King’s Missive.” His verse also captured the continued resilience of those whose “lives preached” in the face of persecution and death. Contemporary Quaker poet Stanford Searl similarly expresses in Mary Dyer’s Hymn and Other Quaker Poems the poignancy of that time (including Searl’s own dissenter ancestry); the witness borne by willing martyrs for a greater cause; and the emotion still experienced by witnesses to such courage and faith. Beyond the stirring poetry and important history, however, are lessons that are still important to learn as latter-day Puritans seek in their own way to take cherished values to the scaffold. Are we willing, like Dyer, Leddra, Stephenson, and Robinson, to face the ultimate sacrifice for a good greater than ourselves? Or are we fated, as another poet (James Russell Lowell in “The Present Crisis”) once penned, to see “Truth forever on the scaffold, / Wrong forever on the throne?”

—Max L. Carter, William R. Rogers Director of Friends Center
and Quaker Studies at Guilford College (emeritus)

Stan Searl’s exquisite poems give us the powerful feeling of being present with Mary Dyer and the other Quakers, whom the Puritans hanged on Boston Common.He has created a collection of voices, and throughout we feel the beauty of Stan’s own singing voice.In this way, these poems are like his other recent book, Songs for Diana, a beautiful book of life and love for his daughter.

—Mike Heller, Professor of English Emeritus, Roanoke College,
author of the Pendle Hill Pamphlet From West Point to Quakerism

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by Michael B. Carroll Jr.

These poems speak to struggle stemming from both the internal and the external—a collection deeply rooted in the human experience, life philosophies, identity politics, faith, shame, pride, trials, and triumph. The common thread throughout is identity and asks: Who are we? Why are we made to sometimes feel “sub-human?” How does this feeling impact our overall wellness from a physical, emotional, social, and spiritual point-of-view? And most importantly, how do we strive to see the light in people and in ourselves, despite such turmoil—this dichotomy between light and dark.

About the Author

Michael B. Carroll Jr. is a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Professional Studies (Health Science / Psychology dual minor). He is a native of Philadelphia, PA and has published creative work in The Esthetic Apostle Literary Magazine. Michael’s work has also been featured in the inaugural issue of Cathexis Northwest Press.

He refers to his greatest aspirations in life as M&M Dreams, which represent his immutable love for both music and the practice of medicine. Music continues to inspire him to live, love, and create, passionately—while his desire to someday practice medicine keeps him emotionally connected to his humanity. When not writing poetry, songs or studying medicine, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends and pretending he’s a sommelier.

Michael can be found on Instagram: @sirdukeofwagadu.

What They’re Saying…

Arranged as if a program for a symphony, the music in this collection jumps right off the page. I know that it is too often said of poems that the rhythm leaves the page, but I dare you to read “Toe Tappin’” and not find yourself doing as the title suggests. Never before have I been so taken by onomatopoeia—do yourself a favor and not simply read this collection, but listen.

— C. M. Tollefson, Cathexis Northwest Press; High Shelf Press

Michael Carroll has an ear for poetry. As if Coltrane and Marcus Aurelius shared their secrets, Carroll’s meditations express free and bold cathartic verse. Whether he is hearing a new calling from “Behind the Georgian Marble Walls” or embracing who he is in “The Unveiling of the Cloak,” Carroll unmistakably delivers rhythm and truth.

— Samuel Griffin, founder, The Esthetic Apostle

The Dichotomy Between Light & Dark is an attempt to fill the distance between people while “living in the endless chorus of prayer” that makes up so much of our modern world—prayers for the living, prayers for the dead, prayers for the oppressed, prayers for the everyday. This marvelous collection navigates the desires of humanity with rhythm, repetition, and grace, demonstrating an ambitious orchestration of form on the page.

— J. David, poetry editor, Flypaper Magazine

Book Launch Readings

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by Penelope Scambly Schott

A Poetry Box Chapbook Prize Selection – Second Place

Reading November Quilt, by acclaimed author and poet, Penelope Scambly Schott, is akin to making a new friend. Brew a cup of tea and curl up in your favorite reading chair as you’re invited to share life experiences, aphorisms, confessions, and curious ponderings in this delightful collection of 30 poems (one for each day of the month).

About the Author

Penelope Scambly Schott leads a double life. In Portland, Oregon she goes to theater and poetry events and she and her husband host the White Dog Poetry Salon in their home on a hill. In Dufur, Oregon (population 604) she and the white dog climb D hill between the wheat fields and admire the east side of Mount Hood. Also in Dufur she writes and leads an annual poetry workshop. Here she and the dog wander about in the dark. The dog admires the dirt underpaw while the woman sniffs stars.

Penelope’s verse biography A is for Anne: Mistress Hutchinson Disturbs the Commonwealth received an Oregon Book Award for Poetry. Other books include Serpent Love: A Mother-Daughter Epic about a struggle with her adult daughter, along with an essay in which the daughter gives her point of view, and Bailing the River, a poetry collection full of dogs, coyotes, and the unsolvable and sometimes funny mysteries of the ordinary. Most recent is House of the Cardamom Seed.

She is grateful to her family and her weekly hiking group as well as Word Sisters, Cool Women Poets of New Jersey, Pearls, and her far-flung on-line critique group.

What They’re Saying  . . .

“Penelope Scambly Schott’s award-winning chapbook of thirty poems—organized and titled as one-a-day offerings for the month of November—reads like a series of brief, conversational letters to the reader. Longings are shared, intimacies revealed, disappointments confessed. Along the way, truths are discovered and delivered aphoristically: ‘Lives don’t have plots; they have refrains.’ Thoughtful and thought- provoking, these poems are not as much meditations as they are invitations—to ponder, to converse, to be disturbed, to love, to never forget. “Sometimes,” Schott writes, ‘I am the surface of a lake / perturbed by every passing breeze that blows.’ In November Quilt, she blows back.”

~Andrea Hollander, author of Blue Mistaken for Sky

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by Ralph J. Long Jr.

A Democracy Divided examines the sharp split that exists in the body politic of America. The first section, “answers” each amendment in the Bill of Rights with an original poem, while the second half addresses topics like origin, faith, leadership and our future. Through clever use of the abecedarian form, Long examines the stance taken by individual states and their electorates, revealing the frustration caused by a lack of empathy for others when politicians strive for election over governance.

About the Author

Ralph J. Long Jr. is a retired investment executive whose career featured extensive travel throughout the United States. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and has lived in Northern California for thirty three years. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Haverford College and did graduate business studies at New York University.

His poetry has appeared in Stoneboat Literary Journal, The Poeming Pigeon, The Ghazal Page and The Avocet. He resides in Oakland California with his wife, Liz and their sons. He is currently at work on a series of epistolary poems addressed to poets and writers that reflect on modern America, travel and his youth.

What They’re Saying  . . .

“It is thrilling to read A Democracy Divided. At a time in our history when it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless, Ralph Long asks us to consider the strange yet beautiful language of our American Bill of Rights, the possibilities of formal poetry, and complicated issues of social justice and history. With a sharp eye, big-hearted intelligence, and a certain buoyant energy, the poet looks closely at our shared American situation, our ‘fervor of frightened patriotism.’ A Democracy Divided is a pertinent, powerful and original collection indeed.”

 ~ Caroline Goodwin, author of Peregrine and Paper Tree

“Ralph J. Long Jr. links a nation’s founding to its current crisis in an unflinching snapshot of our sociopolitical climate, and an indictment of the sensationalist figureheads who fan the flames of our slow undoing. Against a backdrop of our Bill of Rights, he shows our rights eroding beneath our country’s day-to-day inequalities. Long engages religious hypocrisy and the mental gymnastics of the politically influential and average voter alike. ‘What is the state?’ he asks, ‘Who are the people?’ His work challenges the long-term wisdom of answering, everyone who believes as we do. Long captures our now in these poems, and locks it honest and visible within this book. If only we could as skillfully capture the many tragedies that make his poems so necessary.”

~ Josh Gaines, Thoughtcrime Press, editor of Not My President: The Anthology of Dissent

Book Launch Readings:

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