A Mormon literary backcountry where words and place come together.

 

 

 

 

the bully: winter by Linda Crate

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

the hand of winter stretched out
his grey gloves and poured snow
out of his pitcher it fell upon the
world in cold numbing waves it
washed away all the colors of fall —
it beat back my favorite lilies into
the hand of white dust like people
are prone to beat one another into
the dust for a sense of self worth. [...]

Death of an old dog, part five, by Patricia

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

I meet a young couple in the canyon. A dog in their company tells me more about them than they guess. I see a piñon pine tree alight with fall sunshine. As I exit the canyon, I discover a prying eye. This is another long and the last installment in this series but it isn’t [...]

Death of an old dog, part four, by Patricia

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

In which I make my way into Crossfire Canyon and meet a wondrous bird.  I muse upon the experience of eye contact with other species, referencing N. Scott Momaday and Martin Buber.  I see the light, loose and free in the canyon–it’s beautiful. Part one here, part two here, part three here.
As I worked [...]

Winter in England by Karen Kelsay

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

It’s here I pause with each December, where
the snow-trimmed walls of timeworn brick align
beneath the windowsill and winter’s bare
limbs bend beneath a delicate and fine
glossing of frost. It’s here I garner all
my thoughts of months gone past, beside the sheers
and yellow paisley chair. A woolen shawl,
a pearl and knit of smiles and raveled tears,
is wrapped [...]

Iridacea by Sarah E. Page

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

How ugly you all are,
An all-over ugly!
Iris bulbs unearthed and scythed
Of top leaves,
I lay your twisted, tuberous
Bodies across a gutted paper sack
And take a moment to grimace
At your grotesquery.
Dirt clings to your stringy reaching roots.
Not even warm water and bleach
Can pretty the rough hide of your skin.
Poor horrid hags!
But wait—don’t droop,
Shrivel dry in shame.
For I [...]

White Fire by Paul Swenson

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

After the electrical storm
rattles the windows
and spikes the sky ocher
and I go out in the dark
to douse the garden hose
superfluously watering the roses
a shock
to be blinded
by moon
full in the face
in the closed corridor
at the side of my house
and it is clear to me
like cool white fire
the you I know
still glows
in dark somewhere
______________________________________________________________________
To read Paul Swenson’s [...]

Make like a tree by Professor Percival P. Pennywhistle

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Make
like a tree* and
grow, bloom and bear fruit,
give shade, give shelter, sow seed,
weather storms, dig deep,
breathe deeper.
Be useful
in your
death:
frame
well,
burn
bright,
enrich
the soil,
and,
mulch
made,
resurrect
a tree.
____________________________________________________________________________
*This is, of course, a variation on the common adage to “make like a tree and branch out,” and the less common adage, used primarily among canines (the dogs, not the teeth), “make like a [...]

Seeing is Pleasure by Sonnet Mondal

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

The 7 o’ clock was hot again, hotter than any 7 o’ clock.
A drop of sweat travelling down my cheek
In search of destination stopped suddenly
And I rubbed it off, removing its existence.
I went up for a glass of glucose to see
Ants caving in there;
The glass had one inch water with dead ants floating—
Perhaps they have [...]

How to free a hummingbird from a skylight

Monday, July 11th, 2011

Like most folks, my husband, kids, and I greet spring’s arrival with relief.  The relaxing of winter’s grip, the first crack of color between sepals clutching flower buds, the sun’s liberating warmth all lighten the load my family balances gingerly as we carry it through winter’s dimly-lit cellars.  But as daylight’s gold, pink or orange [...]

New kid on the green: Our Mother’s Keeper

Monday, June 6th, 2011

If you look at WIZ’s short blogroll, you’ll see I added a link to a new site: Our Mother’s Keeper, “a LDS group blog dedicated to environmentalism, ecofeminsim and environmental justice issues that result from the changes the planet is currently undergoing.”  To read more about Our Mother’s Keeper, click here.
Sorry it took so long [...]