The Summer 2015 issue of Time Of Singing, A Journal Of Christian Poetry was in the mail this week. This small press literary journal is international. Lora Homan Zill, Editor, also mentions that “TOS is sent to prison inmates, libraries and church libraries.” TOS is published by Wind & Water Press.
I’ve mentioned that the large print book from Quiet Christmas Poetry is for sale on the TOS books page. The first book listed is Welcoming Hope: Poems for those in need (2007, Elin Grace Publishing). This is an anthology, with poems by several poets, and illustrated by Charles A. Waugaman. It feels as new as the day we first published the book.
With all the wonderful fruit for sale in the stores these days, I thought I’d reprint this poem, by Charles A. Waugaman, from Welcoming Hope. All proceeds from both books benefit the good work of TOS, which was founded by Dr. Benjamin P. Browne in 1958. Audrey Stallsmith is the Webmaster for the TOS website.
SALVAGING HOPE
Like truth out of living
I salvage blueberries, one by one,
From the tangled mat of the meadow.
Small as they are,
The grasses fight for them,
Vetch maneuvers in camouflage,
And wild rose claws at my wrists.
Birds spy from the hedgerow
And sing indifferent melodies
Hoping to lure me away
From their succulent repast.
Why this surprising demand?
Blueberries are wealth:
They are something of sun
And something of soil;
They are sky and wildness;
Beauty and wine,
Winnowed from weedy worthlessness,
Blueberries glow in my palm
As welcome … as hope.
By Charles A. Waugaman (1932 – 2010), all rights reserved.
Post updated on August 15, 2015
Poems From Psalms And Nature 