Poetry

From a Stonewalled Birch-Spired Land (Summer 1986)

Before Winter (Summer 1987)

Traveler (Selected Passages) (Fall 1987)

Minister at Kokee Lodge (Fall 1987)

When I Am Gone (Winter 1988)

The Pulley (Spring 1988)

Prismatic Christ (Fall 1988)

Vad gagnar det en människa? (Winter 1988)

Hesiodos' Råd (Spring 1989)

Peace in the World (Spring 1989)

Din sorg är din (Summer 1989)

Love (Summer 1989)

They Shall Be Oaks of Righteousness (Fall 1989)

Nyvall (Fall 1989)

All This And Hot Water, Too (Winter 1989)

To What Serves Mortal Beauty? (Winter 1989)

Ground-breaking (Spring 1990)

Somebody’s Always Stealing Swede’s Shoes (Summer 1990)

When I Grow Up (Fall 1990)

Praise (Fall 1990)

The Oxen (Winter 1990)

Mrs. Halleen Was Wearing Earrings! (Spring 1991)

On the Death of a Metaphysican (Spring 1991)

The Old Painter (Summer 1991)

Quiet Still (Fall 1991)

Friends (Fall 1991)

Peace (Winter 1991)

Kids Play (Winter 1991)

On last leaving Anchorage (Spring 1992)

A Day Prayer (Spring 1992)

The Toys (Fall 1992)

on cutting down that norway pine (Summer 1997)

To Pietisten Members: Annual Meeting Challenge (Winter 1999)

Sundog and The Upland Pines III (Winter 1999)

An die Musik (Winter 1999)

Restricted Living (Winter 1999)

The longest clouds follow late November (Summer 1999)

Cotton and Rock Island Railroad (Fall 1999)

Just To Be In Skin Deserves A Medal (Fall 1999)

My Imagination Wanders (Summer 2000)

A Wild Surmise (Winter 2000)

Winter Supper (Winter 2000)

Peace Lacks the Ambition of War (Spring 2001)

After, Always After (Summer 2001)

Beyond Words (Summer 2002)

Moving On (Winter 2004-2005)

Poems for Claire (Summer 2006)

Sleepy Head; Her Majesty; Gift Giver; Moclips

The Reign of Hope (Spring 2007)

TIME (Spring 2007)

We Who Were Beautiful (Spring 2007)

The Farmer and His Wife (Christmas 2007)

Every day (Christmas 2007)

Then (Christmas 2007)

The Last Chapter (Spring 2008)

Springtime for the Nation (Christmas 2008)

Poem: Advent (Epiphany 2010)

The Great Recession (Spring/Summer 2010)

Credo (Spring/Summer 2010)

Fireflies (Spring/Summer 2010)

Now I Lay Me Down To Dreams (Spring/Summer 2010)

Creation (Spring/Summer 2010)

Star of Bethlehem (Fall/Winter 2010)

The Sailor and the Wind (Spring/Summer 2011)

A Sonnet for Gardeners (Spring/Summer 2011)

Faith (Spring/Summer 2011)

Pieces (Spring/Summer 2011)

Advent is Here (Fall/Winter 2011)

The Beggar Children (Spring/Summer 2012)

Arisen is the Christ (Spring/Summer 2012)

The Late Years (Spring/Summer 2012)

At the change of the year (Fall/Winter 2012)

The Body (Fall/Winter 2012)

Linear History (Fall/Winter 2012)

Wild Raspberries (Fall/Winter 2012)

In God my soul rests as on placid water (Spring/Summer 2013)

Do what little you can (Spring/Summer 2013)

The Window (Spring/Summer 2013)

Blossom like a desert rose (Fall/Winter 2013)

A Reader’s Carol (Fall/Winter 2013)

Simeon’s Gift (Fall/Winter 2013)

Truth Comes Riding a Donkey (Spring/Summer 2015)

Poetry Corner (Spring/Summer 2016)

A while ago, when I was composing a poem about spring, I thought about William Wordsworth and his verse, “The World Is Too Much with Us.”

Turning (Spring/Summer 2016)

The Wilderness (Spring/Summer 2017)

Holy Wings (Spring/Summer 2018)

Man After Diagnosis (Spring/Summer 2019)

Paraclete (Spring/Summer 2019)

Upper Room (Spring/Summer 2019)

A Handful of Earth (Fall/Winter 2019)

Advent Baptism (Fall/Winter 2019)

Advent Light (Fall/Winter 2019)

“Cries” (Fall/Winter 2019)

The Waiting Room (Fall/Winter 2019)

Grace (Spring/Summer 2020)

Two Days (Spring/Summer 2020)

And then there was Jim (Spring/Summer 2020)

The Uncomfortable Life (Fall/Winter 2020)

Shepherds play for the baby Jesus (Fall/Winter 2020)

Leviathan (Fall/Winter 2020)

Mages (Fall/Winter 2020)

Julian: the Showings (Spring/Summer 2021)

Madrigal (Spring/Summer 2021)

If you are quiet enough… (Fall/Winter 2021)

Epiphany (Fall/Winter 2021)

Somewhere a cardinal (Spring/Summer 2022)

Summer Hail (Spring/Summer 2022)

Lot’s Wife (Fall/Winter 2022)

Summer Dusk (Spring/Summer 2023)

Poetry (Fall/Winter 2023-2024)

Mary after Annunciation; Winter Along the Mississippi

Fire Tender (Spring/Summer 2024)

To the Bats in the Sanctuary (Spring/Summer 2024)

Last fall, the sanctuary of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Rock Island, Illinois, became home to a community of bats. Because bats are a protected species that mates in the fall, the sanctuary was vacated while the bat-babies were born and nurtured. Worship services moved to the social hall. Parishioners were encouraged to show eco-hospitality by learning about and celebrating these fellow tenants of our church and our world. This poem is one of the responses.