In the summer of 2012 we published the debut poetry collection of author Mary Harwell Sayler entitled, Living in the Nature Poem. Over the month of June we have been looking back on this collection and checking in with Mary about her recent projects. Today we would like to offer two new unpublished pieces my Mary for your enjoyment.
Mary Harwell Sayler began writing poems as a child but, as an adult, wrote almost everything except poetry. Although her publishing credits of two dozen traditionally published books (Zondervan, B&H, CSS, Chelsea, Facts on File, etc.) explore a wide range of interests in fiction, nonfiction, devotionals, and children’s books, her first book of poetry, Living in the Nature Poem, came out in 2012 when she found a fitting home in the environmentally-aware publisher Hiraeth Press. As a lover of God, nature, and almost everything living, Mary hopes these poems will encourage readers to reconnect with the natural world, spiritual world, and their own body cells.
Connecting with the Body of Christ matters greatly to her too. As a lifelong lover of the Church in all its parts and the Bible in each English version, Mary encourages Christian Poets & Writers (editors, artists, and publishers too!) in their work through the group she began on Facebook. For her own work, she continues to focus on researching and writing blogs, devotionals, and poetry, especially poems on Bible people, prayers, parables, and other biblical themes.
Reverberations
On a foggy day,
sounds from everything around
bloom like dandelions.
________
The Swing, Unseen by Stevenson
Oh, how I like to go up in a swing,
up
with my head thrown back
and my legs pointed toward the sky—
so blue—
my upper arms bearing the weight
of a workout,
my forearms firming
as I grasp the chains connecting
the schoolyard seat
my husband bought by Internet
then attached to a long limb
of King—our large oak tree—
as I climb the sky—so blue—
canopied with lush leaves—
so green—
though I can still be seen
by neighbors across our lake, who
call me “the swinger,”
something I never was
until now,
swinging back and forth, back
and breathing rain-refreshed air—
soaring higher and higher into free
verse—up in the air—
no
gravity.
Photo © Mary Harwell Sayler