A new poem, “Intact,” is part of tiny wren lit’s newest print anthology, “The Half-Life of Echoes: Poems About the Power and Fragility of Memories.” This sweet little volume is full of poignant, thought-provoking poems about memory. It is available to order from tiny wren lit’s online store here.
You can find a screenshot of “Intact” at the bottom of this post. The poem comes from a story my Grandma Wysong used to tell. In her later years with dementia, Grandma still had a strong proclivity for old stories. Whenever the swamp across the street froze over, she would tell us how she fell through the ice when skating with her friends as a girl. Some neighbors from town happened by in their car (they had a car!), asked “What are you kids are doing out in this weather?!” and drove them back home. Every time she told the story, the temperature dropped lower. (“It was below zero!”… “It was ten below!”… “It was twenty-five below!”) I wouldn’t mind hearing that story (and all the others) one more time this Christmas.
On that note, I want to thank you for your support throughout 2023 and wish you and your family blessings of peace this holiday season.
I invite you to join me in praying for a just peace in the Holy Land this Christmas, as well as peace for all those suffering from violence around the world. If the violence in the Holy Land is also heavy on your heart, I want to share a few resources that have been meaningful to me over the past couple of months:
1) A way to learn – with Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis’s ‘Listen. Learn. Lean into Peace.’ series:
(Click the light blue “Playlist” link for the YouTube homepage for the series)
2) A way to act – Peace Advocacy Christmas Cards to print and send to President Biden and elected representatives with Franciscan Action Network:
3) A way to give – with Mennonite Central Committee:
Peace and every good,
Jenna
