{"id":8611,"date":"2023-08-30T18:25:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T18:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=8611"},"modified":"2023-08-30T18:25:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T18:25:05","slug":"to-julian-of-norwich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/30\/to-julian-of-norwich\/","title":{"rendered":"To Julian of Norwich"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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To Julian of Norwich<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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By Renee Emerson<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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First published in the Cumberland River Review<\/em>, this poem appears in the recently released collection Church Ladies<\/em>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I suppose it begins with the wish
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 for a moment
alone; then ash
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 across a stone floor. You are
entombed with Christ, shut up
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 in a room with two
windows like eyes set
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to the past and future,
like mouths open to receive
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mass, forgive the unseen
sins of strangers.<\/p>

Here we paint rooms white
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 before we leave them. Outside
one window, a priest; outside
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the other, a young woman,
wearing the footpath to dirt. Today
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 she carries pears, daisies, certain
testimonies. Tomorrow, she carries her mother.<\/p>

Isn\u2019t this what you prayed for? To burn
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 with visions, to suffer like God.
Specter, voice from the living grave,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 are you more pure there
than the maid on the footpath, begging
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 penance, shut within
the anchorage
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of an earthly body?<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Renee Emerson<\/strong> is the author of the poetry collections Keeping Me Still <\/em>(Winter Goose Publishing 2014), Threshing Floor <\/em>(Jacar Press 2016), and Church Ladies<\/em> (Fernwood Press 2023). She is also the author of the chapbook The Commonplace Misfortunes of Everyday Plants <\/em>(Belle Point Press), and the middle grade novel Why Silas Miller Must Learn to Ride a Bike <\/em>(Wintergoose Publishing 2022). She lives in the Midwest with her husband and children.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Church Ladies<\/strong> was published on June 2, 2023 by Fernwood Press. You can purchase a copy here<\/a>.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A poem by Renee 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