Jane Tyson Clement

Jane Tyson Clement (1917―2000) is a poet, playwright and short story writer who grew up in Manhattan. She always felt more at home in Bay Head, New Jersey, at her family’s summer house away from the city. These experiences imprinted on her mind the images of beauty in the natural world which would appear in her writing for years to come.

Once married, she and her husband joined the Bruderhof, a pacifist, Christian community which aligned well with their own attitudes.

In 1952 she published the chapbook The Heavenly Garden, but her poems primarily remained hidden for years. After her death in March of 2000, her family collected her poetry which was published as No One Can Stem The Tide (Plough).

In 2019 Plough Publishing published The Heart’s Necessities ― a book of Jane Tyson Clement’s poetry, but also the story of her life, with appreciations and tribute from Becca Stevens, a singer/songwriter who has set several of Clement’s poems to music.

The following poem was written in April 1977.

The Spider

I watch the spider fling
its most improbable thread ―
from aspen limb to birch
and back again.

So do we fling our faith
from star to star
and under God’s eternal, watching care
the perfect orb
will come.

Entry written by D.S. Martin. His latest poetry collection is Ampersand (2018, Cascade). His books are available through Amazon, and Wipf & Stock, including the anthologies The Turning Aside, and Adam, Eve, & the Riders of the Apocalypse.