Stella Nesanovich

Stella Nesanovich is a poet who was born and raised in New Orleans. She has published two collections: Vespers at Mount Angel (2004, Xavier Review Press) and Colors of the River (2015, Yellow Flag). She has also published four chapbooks. She is Professor Emerita of English from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Philip C. Kolin said when Colors of the River was about to appear, “With her exquisite new collection, Stella Nesanovich is undoubtedly one of Louisiana’s most gifted poets and a contributor to the Southern elegiac tradition…”

Since that time, her poem “Everyday Grace” has received significant attention after it first appeared in the literary journal Third Wednesday in 2016. Ted Kooser featured it in “American Life in Poetry” — a column which was included in numerous newspapers. “Everyday Grace” can be read on the website of The Poetry Foundation and has been posted to many other internet sites.

The following poem first appeared at Reformed Journal.

Blue Light

The color of deep ice, the blue
frozen in crevasses, a hue
like none other. Such ice
holds memory in that intensity,
a siren song that calls the body.

The early dark of autumn
afternoons, the sky’s cobalt
evoke delight even as sun
departs, leading us
to the depths of night.

One fall, I sat in blue light
cast by stained glass,
a luminous veil. Amazed
by a message I heard
in prayer, I lingered
in tinted brilliance, gazed
about to see if others knew.

Was Gabriel an azure shimmer
when Mary heard him speak
the miracle to grace her life?
Often our answered prayers
are wisps of such light.

Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the author of five poetry collections including Angelicus (2021, Cascade) ― a book of poems written from the point-of-view of angels. His books are available through Wipf & Stock.

Philip C. Kolin*

Philip C. Kolin is the Distinguished Professor of English (Emeritus) at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is a very prolific writer, having authored more than 40 books. He has also published numerous poetry collections including Departures (2014, Negative Capability), Benedict’s Daughter (2017, Resource Publications), and his newly-released Reaching Forever (Poiema Poetry Series).

It has been my privilege to work with Philip C. Kolin as the editor for this new book. I have also included one of his poems on my new web-journal Poems For Ephesians, which is on the McMaster Divinity College website.

Kolin is very active in the literary world, having, for example, recently co-edited a collection of poems about the Mississippi River for Louisiana Literature Press entitled Down to the Dark River. He is also the editor of the Southern Quarterly.

The following poem first appeared in America, and is from Reaching Forever.

When God Arrives

Let your eyes write
new tears for a pilgrimage
to a place you cannot see.

But wait
for the thick darkness.
That is when he will call

for you. Till then
quiver your soul.
Don’t think about

being made in his image.
You will only be looking
into a dark mirror.

He lives in infinity, and his voice is
an octave higher than silence.
His words thrum

through the clouds.
He whispers fire and speaks
in endless vowels.

He comes with a river bird
asperging feathers.
Pray for the sky that absorbs

evaporating continents
and black-plumed sins.
As his train goes by,

you realize you do not
have to wear
your body anymore.

*This is the second Kingdom Poets post about Philip C. Kolin: first post.

Posted with permission of the poet.

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.

Philip C. Kolin

Philip C. Kolin is the author of five books of poetry. His most recent collection is Reading God's Handwriting (Kaufmann Publishing, 2012). He has taught in the English Department of the University of Southern Mississippi since 1974, and was recently made the Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts and Letters. Kolin is a Shakespeare scholar, is a significant authority on Tennessee Williams, and has written extensively about modern American playwrights. He has published more than forty books.

In a recent interview he said, "In many ways, my poetry marks my own spiritual autobiography, my encounters with God on the peaks, the plateaus, and the deep valleys." He is the founding editor of the Christian poetry journal Vineyards.

Read my review for Ruminate of Reading God's Handwriting here.

Faith

It's the love affair
between your soul and God's will,

the unflickering oil in your lamp
waiting for the bridegroom

to arrive after so many dark midnights,
listening for his footsteps.

It's looking for pearls,
a missing drachma,

that stray sheep who's wandered off
beyond the pasture.

It's planting a mustard seed in the deep
valley that grows trees towering

over montains to provide
a sanctuary for doves.

It's the joyous breaking of
bread and finding a star inside

and the martyr's kiss
imprinted on the chalice.

It's sprinkling blood on your doorposts
with holy writing embedded in the frame.

It's God's spirit healing your withered flesh.
It's finding your name in His blazing
Book of Life.

Posted with permission of the poet.

This is the first Kingdom Poets post about Philip C. Kolin: second post.

Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the award-winning author of the poetry collections Poiema (Wipf & Stock) and So The Moon Would Not Be Swallowed (Rubicon Press). They are both available at: www.dsmartin.ca