It's been a while

A couple times this summer I tried to put together an update... this is the furthest I’ve gotten. If you’re reading this, I guess I finally found the bandwidth to close a loop.

I can’t honestly tell you I’m not writing. My writing brain isn’t totally gone; turns out it’s just the long-run attention span that’s offline indefinitely. I’ve put off several clients this summer, probably not permanently, but no promises.

My sister’s challenge to write a little bit every day stuck, and seven months later, I have nearly 250 short poems. Most of it is utter trash, but there are a few that surprise me. I’ve been reading a lot of poetry, too. Maybe 40 poetry anthologies have spent their time in the stack by my easy chair this summer. Purged my book collection this summer, and added as many back in poetry volumes. That evens out, right?

Poetry is different from prose--instead of detailed and leisurely explorations that compel you to climb into someone’s head, poems are freeze-frame glimpses into someone else’s experiences, other worlds, different perspectives. Quick reads. Good for abbreviated attention spans. You can travel as widely and feel as deeply with poetry as you can a long essay or a thick book, with a fraction of the effort.

You don’t have to worry about “getting” poetry. You take the “huh” or the “aha” or the “ooh” that makes you read twice, and let the rest go, guilt free. True story. Try some poetry. Let your expectations go and dive in. I’d recommend Mary Oliver or Billy Collins for starters.

Lots of things could be said about how I’m doing. However I might be, I’ve learned that this too shall pass. Bad day, good day...tomorrow will be different. There’s so much good intertwined with the surreal and the wrenching, I’ve stopped thinking so hard about things.

This, too, is likely to pass. In the meantime, the promise remains.

Toward the promise,

Lana

P.S. It doesn’t have to rhyme.

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#160

When we pray “Lead us not into temptation”

We are praying

Let us not go into the darkness

into the most extreme testing

of our faith

When we pray “Deliver us from evil”

Sometimes we mean

Let us not come face to face with

the depths of our own

craven brokenness

Face to face and not victorious

09/10/2022

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This issue is not really representative of Toward the Promise. Here’s a link to other, earlier issues, some better, some maybe not. I still intend that better resume sooner than later. Please look around in the meantime.

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#towardthepromise

All Bible verses are from the NASB unless otherwise noted.

© Lana Wildman. Image copyright by Michelle Schwartz