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Reposted
"Who will stop the vengeful ghosts of my sins / from stalking me in my sleep? / Neither love, travel, nor art, / neither books nor consuming cause / could fill the great hole God left behind. / He is bulk; and I make up retail." Sharif S. Elmusa, "Mobil Mosque" in Presence 2025.
August 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
"Who will stop the vengeful ghosts of my sins / from stalking me in my sleep? / Neither love, travel, nor art, / neither books nor consuming cause / could fill the great hole God left behind. / He is bulk; and I make up retail." Sharif S. Elmusa, "Mobil Mosque" in Presence 2025.
"Growing up, I always / hated math, how single-minded it was, / its linear compulsions, and its ruthless / lurching toward the single solve, / the definitive answer..." Kate Daniels, "Resurrections" in Presence 2025.
November 7, 2025 at 6:36 PM
"Growing up, I always / hated math, how single-minded it was, / its linear compulsions, and its ruthless / lurching toward the single solve, / the definitive answer..." Kate Daniels, "Resurrections" in Presence 2025.
Announcing our submission to Orison's Best Spiritual Literature Anthology: Kate Daniels "Resurrections," Michael Dechane "When You Must Change...," Eric Potter "Against Metaphor," Marjorie Stelmach "Crimes...," Sharif S. Elmusa "Mobile Mosque," James Davis May "Standing Before the Relic . . ."
November 2, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Announcing our submission to Orison's Best Spiritual Literature Anthology: Kate Daniels "Resurrections," Michael Dechane "When You Must Change...," Eric Potter "Against Metaphor," Marjorie Stelmach "Crimes...," Sharif S. Elmusa "Mobile Mosque," James Davis May "Standing Before the Relic . . ."
"the southern blade of the sickle moon / stabs through the veil of clouds - / a jackknife pouting / melodramatically among the stars: / a little dangerous, crazy for certain." Joseph Bathanti "Coyotes" in Presence 2025.
October 25, 2025 at 4:29 PM
"the southern blade of the sickle moon / stabs through the veil of clouds - / a jackknife pouting / melodramatically among the stars: / a little dangerous, crazy for certain." Joseph Bathanti "Coyotes" in Presence 2025.
Congratulations to Margaret Mackinnon whose poem "A Tomb of a Woman at Saqqara" in Presence 2024 was selected for the 2025 volume of Orison Books' Best Spiritual Literature due out in December 2025.
October 12, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Congratulations to Margaret Mackinnon whose poem "A Tomb of a Woman at Saqqara" in Presence 2024 was selected for the 2025 volume of Orison Books' Best Spiritual Literature due out in December 2025.
"It takes an oriole - // no idea, but a feathered, double-hearted sun / carrying its own darkness, this particular // squawkishness to gently condemn whatever / it is in you that hides the waiting world / from your better eye." Michael Dechane, "When You Must Change Your Life" in Presence 2025.
September 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
"It takes an oriole - // no idea, but a feathered, double-hearted sun / carrying its own darkness, this particular // squawkishness to gently condemn whatever / it is in you that hides the waiting world / from your better eye." Michael Dechane, "When You Must Change Your Life" in Presence 2025.
"Lint lays atop the book Leaves of pages cheek to cheek / murmur of days A lifetime stacked & piled / means nothing and everything / staring into now" Susan Cowger, "Tipping Points" in Presence 2025.
September 20, 2025 at 5:07 PM
"Lint lays atop the book Leaves of pages cheek to cheek / murmur of days A lifetime stacked & piled / means nothing and everything / staring into now" Susan Cowger, "Tipping Points" in Presence 2025.
Calling all poets!! Be part of our 10 Anniversary Issue - submit today! Our submission window closes OCTOBER 1. See our website for details or find us on Submittable. You do NOT have to be Catholic to submit! www.catholicpoetryjournal.com
September 19, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Calling all poets!! Be part of our 10 Anniversary Issue - submit today! Our submission window closes OCTOBER 1. See our website for details or find us on Submittable. You do NOT have to be Catholic to submit! www.catholicpoetryjournal.com
"Not every evening / descends / and not every old age / creeps up, / some doze like peas / in their green pods / or sprawl with ease / on marshmallow clouds. / Not every angel / terrifies" Age Mishol, "Cabin at the Forest Edge" trans. Joanna Chen in Presence 2025.
September 12, 2025 at 8:28 PM
"Not every evening / descends / and not every old age / creeps up, / some doze like peas / in their green pods / or sprawl with ease / on marshmallow clouds. / Not every angel / terrifies" Age Mishol, "Cabin at the Forest Edge" trans. Joanna Chen in Presence 2025.
"Witness the clown without hands / the horizonless sea // the dervish on fire, / look at the hermit in the rush-hour // crowd, thief among lilies, / killers in the cotton field // and the dead child shattered / in her father's arms." Pablo Medina, "Witness" in Presence 2025.
September 5, 2025 at 7:18 PM
"Witness the clown without hands / the horizonless sea // the dervish on fire, / look at the hermit in the rush-hour // crowd, thief among lilies, / killers in the cotton field // and the dead child shattered / in her father's arms." Pablo Medina, "Witness" in Presence 2025.
"Who will stop the vengeful ghosts of my sins / from stalking me in my sleep? / Neither love, travel, nor art, / neither books nor consuming cause / could fill the great hole God left behind. / He is bulk; and I make up retail." Sharif S. Elmusa, "Mobil Mosque" in Presence 2025.
August 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
"Who will stop the vengeful ghosts of my sins / from stalking me in my sleep? / Neither love, travel, nor art, / neither books nor consuming cause / could fill the great hole God left behind. / He is bulk; and I make up retail." Sharif S. Elmusa, "Mobil Mosque" in Presence 2025.
"I want to hear locks opening. / We must keep striking the water, / Shouting dry land, dry land..." Yonatan Berg, "Amen," translated by Joanna Chen in Presence 2025.
August 8, 2025 at 4:02 PM
"I want to hear locks opening. / We must keep striking the water, / Shouting dry land, dry land..." Yonatan Berg, "Amen," translated by Joanna Chen in Presence 2025.
"Yet when they sing all the woe of the world / Is transformed. It is as if they / Have touched the tips of their fingers / To the air. The suffering, the blood-vaporized air." Gregory Orfalea, "It Is Hard To Speak" in Presence 2025.
August 2, 2025 at 7:48 PM
"Yet when they sing all the woe of the world / Is transformed. It is as if they / Have touched the tips of their fingers / To the air. The suffering, the blood-vaporized air." Gregory Orfalea, "It Is Hard To Speak" in Presence 2025.
"Everyone said your bones in the box kept singing, talking, yakking, jumping, bouncing as if Petrouchka in his red, white carnival apparel had arrived." Janice Zerfas, "The weather up there must be changing" in Presence 2025.
July 25, 2025 at 11:58 PM
"Everyone said your bones in the box kept singing, talking, yakking, jumping, bouncing as if Petrouchka in his red, white carnival apparel had arrived." Janice Zerfas, "The weather up there must be changing" in Presence 2025.
"How solipsistic / Of us windowsill philosophers / To measure the space / Between God and the moon. " Helen Behe, "Tilting Earth" in Presence 2025.
July 18, 2025 at 5:55 PM
"How solipsistic / Of us windowsill philosophers / To measure the space / Between God and the moon. " Helen Behe, "Tilting Earth" in Presence 2025.
"The 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 is where the danger is real: / spiraling fears, a vice to conceal, / yourself your worst enemy tied to a chair. / Be careful in there." Monica Silva "Neuroplasticity" in Presence 2025.
July 11, 2025 at 9:46 PM
"The 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 is where the danger is real: / spiraling fears, a vice to conceal, / yourself your worst enemy tied to a chair. / Be careful in there." Monica Silva "Neuroplasticity" in Presence 2025.
"Pablo Medina's newest book of poetry, Sea of Broken Mirrors, [is] a collection of radiant and visceral poems whose graceful movements and keen insights are pure pleasure from start to finish." -- from Jana-Lee Germaine's review in Presence 2025
July 11, 2025 at 3:18 PM
"Pablo Medina's newest book of poetry, Sea of Broken Mirrors, [is] a collection of radiant and visceral poems whose graceful movements and keen insights are pure pleasure from start to finish." -- from Jana-Lee Germaine's review in Presence 2025
"The floor bedecked / with mop and broom is the prow / of a ship; the old house / sails on into time, towards the promised Land / and under your idle feet swells / the vasty deep you fled." Jean-Pierre Lemaire, trans. Margaret Morrison, "Equipment" in Presence 2025. #presence #faithpoetry
July 3, 2025 at 6:12 PM
"The floor bedecked / with mop and broom is the prow / of a ship; the old house / sails on into time, towards the promised Land / and under your idle feet swells / the vasty deep you fled." Jean-Pierre Lemaire, trans. Margaret Morrison, "Equipment" in Presence 2025. #presence #faithpoetry
"Squat in the stacks, her back hunched / Like a bent branch, she kneels before / A wall of children's books." Andrew Calis, "Patron," in Presence 2025.
June 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM
"Squat in the stacks, her back hunched / Like a bent branch, she kneels before / A wall of children's books." Andrew Calis, "Patron," in Presence 2025.
Our apologies for our incorrect date - Martha Silano passed away from us on May 5, not May 7 as previously posted. She will be dearly missed.
May 9, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Our apologies for our incorrect date - Martha Silano passed away from us on May 5, not May 7 as previously posted. She will be dearly missed.
Martha Silano from Presence '21 www.versedaily.org/2021/soulrec...
"It turns out gravity// doesn’t hold for souls; souls drift, like loons/ between dives, into eternity,//...//My travel speed is two inches per year,/ same as the moon from Earth. A little less bound by gravity./A little more free.
"It turns out gravity// doesn’t hold for souls; souls drift, like loons/ between dives, into eternity,//...//My travel speed is two inches per year,/ same as the moon from Earth. A little less bound by gravity./A little more free.
May 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Martha Silano from Presence '21 www.versedaily.org/2021/soulrec...
"It turns out gravity// doesn’t hold for souls; souls drift, like loons/ between dives, into eternity,//...//My travel speed is two inches per year,/ same as the moon from Earth. A little less bound by gravity./A little more free.
"It turns out gravity// doesn’t hold for souls; souls drift, like loons/ between dives, into eternity,//...//My travel speed is two inches per year,/ same as the moon from Earth. A little less bound by gravity./A little more free.
Remembering Martha Silano
9/2/61 - 5/7/25
for the many ways she supported us over the years: by gracing us with her poems, reading with us, and smiling that inspirational smile! We love you . We will miss you, and we will ALWAYS remember you.
9/2/61 - 5/7/25
for the many ways she supported us over the years: by gracing us with her poems, reading with us, and smiling that inspirational smile! We love you . We will miss you, and we will ALWAYS remember you.
May 9, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Remembering Martha Silano
9/2/61 - 5/7/25
for the many ways she supported us over the years: by gracing us with her poems, reading with us, and smiling that inspirational smile! We love you . We will miss you, and we will ALWAYS remember you.
9/2/61 - 5/7/25
for the many ways she supported us over the years: by gracing us with her poems, reading with us, and smiling that inspirational smile! We love you . We will miss you, and we will ALWAYS remember you.
"lungs as branches, as leaves / as green song in early April - // only robins with perfect pitch are more intense." Linda Nemec Foster "After the Long Winter of Chemo, Her Lungs as Trees in Spring" in Presence 2024.
April 18, 2025 at 3:30 PM
"lungs as branches, as leaves / as green song in early April - // only robins with perfect pitch are more intense." Linda Nemec Foster "After the Long Winter of Chemo, Her Lungs as Trees in Spring" in Presence 2024.